Ruby awoke slowly, her eyes blinking heavily.
Morning...
Don't wanna get up...
Too sunny to sleep...
Fine. If that was how the sun was gonna play it...
Ruby yawned and sort of fell out of bed, her cheek landing on the rough red carpet that covered her floor as her blanket tangled around her legs. Ruby kicked off the blanket, climbed to her feet, and stumbled out the door to the kitchen. There was a clock on the ancient oven in there... and she needed to know what time it was so she'd know whether or not to get ready for school...
School!
Weiss!
Ruby was suddenly wide awake, and she dashed into the kitchen. It was eight o'clock already! She was already like an hour-
Ruby suddenly realized this wasn't high school, it was college, and she only had two or three classes a day. And her first one was at eleven. And she had scheduled everything around the middle of the day on purpose because she hated getting up early.
Deep breaths, Ruby, just take a few deep breaths...
After that little panic session, she was wide awake, so she figured she might as well make some breakfast. Ruby rooted around in their little mini fridge, trying to find eggs. There were none. Ruby glared at a stubborn patch of bright yellow mold that clung to the inside of the crisper. She was pretty sure it had eaten the eggs. That was the kind of thing evil bits of mold did, right?
Ruby sighed and looked for something else. The selection wasn't great, but maybe she could scrape something together... And while she was at it, she might as well toss the old stuff. It was just taking up space.
Ten minutes later, Ruby was munching on sour cream and onion potato chips with super spicy salsa on the side. She had gone on an expiration date rampage, which turned out to basically involve throwing out the entire contents of the fridge. The only things left were the salsa, some rice from the takeout Chinese they had ordered last week, and five bottles of half empty steak sauce.
What was even with the steak sauce? They couldn't even afford steaks, much less enough to use up five bottles!
Ruby decided she had cried enough and gave up on the salsa. If nothing else, the stuff had probably cleared out her nose for the next two years.
Stupid Yang and her stupid addiction to spicy food...
Ruby rolled up the chips and stuck them back in the pantry, which was almost as empty as the fridge. Well, aside from a lifetime supply of canned beans. Ruby had long ago resolved she would never be desperate enough to actually eat them, but her sister did, using up a dozen cans a week. In fact, that was also the intended purpose of the salsa. Bean sauce.
There was no accounting for taste. Yang's taste buds in particular seemed to defy any norms, at least in Ruby's mind. Maybe that was what the steak sauce was for too... it wouldn't surprise her.
Ruby looked at the clock again. It was eight thirty. She might as well try and head out to campus... There certainly wasn't anything for her to do here... And if she got there early, she could get the thing with Weiss over as quickly and painlessly las possible.
Then she glanced over at the overflowing rusty kitchen trash can, filled with the ghosts of dinners past.
Well. Maybe she could take that out, at least.
It took thirty minutes to walk to school, and it was a bit chillier this morning, with fairly strong wind, so Ruby decided to dress warmer. She wore a t-shirt with a picture of a little fairy on it and the caption 'I believe.' To that she added a scruffy red and hoodie and a pair of jeans without any holes at all.
She was very proud of that last one. Jeans without holes were hard to come by.
Ruby slipped on her shoes, scooped up her backpack, and headed out the door. Their upstairs neighbor, Eleanor, was up on her fire escape, leaning her arms on the rail and letting her long, pale blonde hair blow in the wind. She was twenty something and an aspiring novelist, going to Vale Academy downtown. Ruby liked her, despite the fact that the other girl was a little strange.
"Hi!" Ruby called, deciding to stop a minute and chat. It couldn't hurt. Also, after the whole thing with her phone's battery running out last night, she wasn't exactly rushing over to any place Weiss might be.
"Hullo." Eleanor called back. "Is everything all right?" Her voice was surprisingly deep, especially for her size, though it tended to range a lot as she talked, high to low and back again. Nothing about Eleanor ever really stayed the same, even her voice.
Ruby wasn't sure what to say to that. Either Eleanor thought she was only talking to her because she had a problem, or she thought Ruby was worried about something. It was probably the second. Eleanor was weirdly perceptive when it came to other people.
Ruby decided to head up the fire escape, figuring it probably wasn't the best idea to shout everything up a flight of stairs.
"Kinda..." She said, when she got up next to Eleanor.
"You don't sound like a 'kinda,' you sound like a 'no.'" Eleanor's eyebrow raised, along with one corner of her mouth, turning her bland expression into a crooked grin. "If you aren't in a hurry, we could talk about it over tea."
"That sounds great." Ruby replied. "Mind if I come in?"
"I just invited you, didn't I?" Eleanor said, swishing into her apartment. "So no, I don't think I do."
"Okay then." Ruby wiped her feet on the green welcome mat outside the door, and stepped in.
Eleanor's place, despite sharing the exact same floor plan as Ruby and Yang's, was very different. She didn't have any rugs, preferring the wood floor. She barely had any furniture, since it was just her and she rarely had any guests. What she did have tended to be big and old and filled with stuffing, picked up at some thrift store or another. It was a stark contrast to their apartment, which was messy, and cluttered, and filled to the brim.
The only two modern things she owned were a laptop and a shiny silver teapot, with a bunch of buttons on it. Eleanor loved tea, and her teapot was absolutely amazing. It was electric, and could go to any temperature you wanted.
Ruby plopped down in a big red armchair while Eleanor headed for the kitchen.
"I think you're in the mood for mint." Eleanor decided, setting the teapot boiling. The went to her spice cabinet and started pulling down little bottles, some filled with spices and others with liquids.
Eleanor's tea was always an experience. She didn't just use tea leaves, she put in spices and extracts and flavorings of all kinds. It was always delicious, but Eleanor saying she was making mint tea was like someone else saying they were baking a pie. It gave a general idea, but you didn't really know what you were getting until you actually took a bite. Or a sip, in this case.
Eleanor poured the water into two white mugs, and came into the living room, leaving the tea in the kitchen to steep while an egg timer ticked down the time until it was ready.
"So, what's up?" She asked, sitting down on a fat leather chair and hugging her knees to her chest.
"Well, you know how I went to my first day of college yesterday? At Beacon?"
Eleanor bobbed her head. "Mhmm. You were all nervous too. How'd it go?"
"Pretty bad, for the most part. The people there are... Well, kinda stuck up. And rich. I met one person who didn't seem too bad, but I might have messed that up."
"Really? How?"
Suddenly, the timer went off, and Eleanor sprang off her chair and was in the kitchen in a flash. She came back with the tea, passing one mug over to Ruby. She took a sip. Eleanor had included a generous splash of milk, and added some nutty, buttery flavors to the minty taste of the tea.
Ruby agreed with Eleanor's earlier assessment. She had been in the mood for mint.
"So, spill. What's put a bee in your bonnet?" Eleanor asked, then giggled. She liked using old fashioned expressions, but could never take herself seriously when she did.
"Well, the friend I made? My phone died when we were talking last night at kind of an important part in our conversation... we barely know eachother, so I'm worried she thinks I just left."
Eleanor gave her a dry look. "You know, if she isn't willing to listen to you explain differently, you probably don't want to be talking to her." That was typical Eleanor. She never minced her words, and was almost always blunt when she gave advice.
"Yeah but..."
"There will be no buts in this conversation. She might be mad, but if she doesn't give you time to explain, she's a bitch and you shouldn't talk to her." And that was that. You never, ever argued with Eleanor. She would just keep repeating her point until you gave up.
They chatted aimlessly for a few more minutes while Ruby finished her tea, then she thanked Eleanor and left. The wind whipped her hair across her face as she started down the road, heading for Beacon.
Above, the sky looked like rain. Two fat drops fell down, down, down, and splashed next to the red Puma sneakers of a girl walking by the side of the road.
When she got to school, Ruby was completely soaked.
While she normally wouldn't mind rain, now she had to sit in class, dripping wet and miserable for three or four hours before she could go home. Ruby trudged up to the gates of Beacon, too cold and grumpy to even admire them. She just wanted to get inside, and maybe shake a little off on the floor to get some of the water off before she got to class. At the very least, this had happened enough that her bag was waterproof. Except for whatever leaked through the patch, her stuff should be fine.
Suddenly she stopped, puzzled. Through the heavy rainfall, she could see a blue umbrella waiting by the gates. And underneath that umbrella was none other than Weiss Schnee, sporting a glare so icy cold that Ruby was amazed the rain hadn't frozen solid.
"Ruby Rose!" She called over the rain, her voice hot and angry, in sharp contrast to her glare. "You have a lot of explaining to do!" Then she took another look, saw how absolutely drenched Ruby was, and rushed over with her umbrella. "And what are you thinking, out in the rain like this! You'll catch cold, you dolt! Get under my umbrella."
Ruby gratefully scrambled under, keeping away from Weiss to avoid messing up her completely dry clothes. Just like yesterday, Weiss was dressed gorgeously, in a tight blue cashmere sweater and long white dress pants. Her feet were snug inside a pair of bright blue wellington boots, and she was carrying the same large white handbag from yesterday. Her hair formed a flowing white layer down her back, not in a ponytail like before. It reminded Ruby of freshly fallen snow, somehow.
"Just don't drip on me." The other girl commanded, leading them inside. They hurried across campus into the engineering building, where Weiss folded up her umbrella, slipping it into a carrying bag and slipping it into her purse. Then she looked at Ruby, who looked like nothing more than a soaking wet cat.
"...You left yesterday." Weiss said at last, but it sounded half hearted compared to before.
"I'm really sorry..." Ruby mumbled. "My phone died and I couldn't find the charger..."
"Are you serious?" She demanded. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you can't keep track of anything. I... accept your apology. Though it had better not happen again." Weiss said, with a heavy sigh. "And if you want to change out of those clothes, I have some you could borrow in my dorm room. When is your first class?"
"Still like an hour away." Ruby replied. "I have plenty of time... If you don't wanna, I'll be, well, dryer by then... It'll be fine..."
"Quit moping and follow me before I change my mind." Weiss snapped, and Ruby instantly obeyed.
Fifteen minutes later, Ruby came out of Weiss's immaculate bathroom in a long white skirt, blue v-neck sweater, and a pair of white ballet flats. She rarely wore skirts, so it was a little... breezier than she was used to, but she was grateful to have something to wear. Weiss had also given her a spare umbrella, an exact duplicate of the one she was keeping in her own bag. Ruby walked out of the bathroom, ready to face the day.
Weiss's clothes looked really good on her, surprisingly. Ruby had spent as much time admiring herself in the mirror as she had actually changing.
Weiss looked good on her...
Speaking of Weiss, she was standing outside with a stick of deodorant. "Put this on. I don't want to smell you when you're done with those." She commanded. Ruby went back in the bathroom, generously applied some, and came out again, offering the stick back to Weiss. The other girl shook her head.
"Keep it, I don't want it now."
Ruby stuffed it in her bag.
"So uh..." Ruby said, tense and tongue tied. She was in Weiss's dorm room. Weiss had invited her in. And given her clothes. And wasn't mad at her about before. Well... not very at least. She had to be dreaming, this couldn't be anything other than a story written by her desperate and overactive imagination, but honestly, she didn't care.
Nobody had better pinch her, though, because if someone did, and she woke up, she would find them in the real world.
And kill them.
Weiss started heading for the door. "I'm going to walk around campus for a little while. You're welcome to join me." She looked back at Ruby. "You're not welcome to stay here, however."
"Uh. Yeah. Right behind you Weiss." Ruby scooped up her bag and followed, trailing after her like a little puppy.
As it turned out, Weiss wasn't in the mood for conversation, and after a couple tries, Ruby just left the silence be, the pounding rain and the sound of their shoes on the floor the only noises to be heard. The campus wasn't exactly very populous, and Weiss seemed to be sticking to the parts almost nobody ever went. Ruby only ever saw another student once, who gave them a funny look before quickly walking away.
They were in the arts building fifteen minutes later before Weiss said a word.
"I don't have many friends." She said, forcing every word out like they were somehow too big to squeeze out. "So I may have... overreacted about you leaving. I assumed the worst, instead of thinking about what was most likely."
Ruby listened closely. This almost sounded like an apology. Ruby got the sense that Weiss may have never apologized for anything in her life, that this was as close as she ever got. It was a nice feeling. Somehow, she felt privileged to even hear this much.
"Don't worry about it." Ruby said, with a small smile.
Abruptly, Weiss stopped, pretending to look at a clock mounted on the wall, a clock she had checked only five minutes ago. "I have to go to class." She said, abruptly rushing away. She pulled up short just before disappearing, and turned around to look at Ruby. "I'll be at La Rose Blanche for lunch."
Then she vanished behind one of the high bookshelves.
Ruby stood there for a full minute, a goofy grin plastered on her face. Weiss had asked her to lunch! Sort of! Maybe! Ruby could still catch a faint whiff of her perfume, a clear, minty smell, like a breath of fresh air in the musty old library.
For the second time that day, Ruby found herself agreeing with Eleanor.
She was in the mood for mint.
Ruby made sure to pay attention during her first class, Figure Drawing 102. It was actually a pretty cool class, and even though she'd only had an hour of it so far she was learning new things. After that, she rushed out of the room and straight for the food, staring intently at her map. La Rose Blanche... well, conveniently enough, it was right next to Guglhupf. Though if memory served, out of all the places she looked at yesterday, it was by far the most expensive.
Well, Weiss probably didn't even notice the fifty dollar price tag attached to most of those meals.
Ruby was so absorbed in her map that she ran right in to a solid brick wall of a chest. She stumbled back, and fell on the floor.
Crap... Weiss was gonna kill her if she messed up the skirt...
"Well well well, if it isn't the pig girl." Said a familiar voice. Ruby looked up, her dream abruptly turning into a nightmare. It was the two guys she had seen the first day of school. Yes, the really hot ones. Two jerks for the price of one. Fifty percent off, purchase now while supplies last. Comes with a complementary series of insults, mocking laughs, and superior smirks.
Ruby wanted a refund, and to know what was up with her metaphors lately. At least they were all in her head... If she actually said any of that out loud, she would never be able to show her face in public again.
"I'm sorry for running into you..." She mumbled, climbing up off the floor, and dusting off her skirt. But they weren't done with her yet.
The redhead, the first guy she had met, spoke up. His voice was deep, but kinda nasally. It grated on her ears. "Oh hey, I recognize her too. Where'd you get those clothes? They actually look decent. Did you steal them?"
Ruby flushed a brilliant red, and started to open her mouth to say something, anything. Instead, someone spoke for her.
"Actually, I loaned them to her." From the lips of an angel...
All heads turned to look at Weiss Schnee, striding down the hallway and scowling like a thunderhead.
"Mr Winchester, Mr Bronzewing." She said, all the chill of Winter in her voice. "I really do hope you two aren't bothering Miss Rose."
"I, uh -" The redhead stammered, while the blonde one just looked away. Ruby felt a surge of satisfaction as Weiss continued.
"Also, it seems to me that you ran into Miss Rose while she was walking down the hallway, minding her own business. You could have avoided her, but you ran straight into her and knocked her down, while she was wearing one. Of. My. Nicest. Skirts." Weiss ground out each word like a curse. "Leave. Before I decide that this Christmas, I want the two of you homeless."
They turned and fled, scrambling down the hallway away from the furious heiress, their patent leather Oxfords slapping on the tiles. Ruby started dusting off the skirt somewhat frantically, hoping that there wasn't anything on it that Weiss might find fault with. Her nicest skirt? Augh!
"Oh, calm down Ruby." Weiss sighed. "It isn't actually that nice a skirt." Nevertheless, she picked off a few little pieces of dirt from it, her hand brushing into Ruby's leg. It sent a chill up her spine, even that little touch. "Are you ready for lunch?"
"Um... yeah... my next class is at one..." Ruby said, her voice hesitant and soft.
"Good. Then let's go."
The restaurant was absolutely amazing. Lit by hundreds of little candles, the light wood interior was flawless. Ruby looked around uncomfortably. This place was kinda... romantic... Most of the people in here were couples. Straight couples. The young men and women of high society were all sequestered in their own little tables, staring dreamily at eachother in the candlelight and making quiet conversation. There didn't seem to be much place for a couple of girls going as 'just friends' around here.
Were they just friends? Or was this Weiss's way of going on a date?
Her breath hitched at the idea.
What would she do if it was?
Would she mind?
A waiter with a little pencil mustache in a red vest and dress shirt greeted them at the door, interrupting Ruby's train of thought.
"Ladies, table for two?" He offered.
"Yes please. On the balcony." Weiss replied, and off they went. Weiss followed the waiter, delicately stepping along the dark red carpet. Ruby was a step or two behind, feeling for all the world like the ugly duckling.
The waiter led them to a covered balcony, perfectly dry despite the rain, which poured down just onto a large red covering the restaurant had set up. He gestured to an intimate little table for two, and they seated themselves as he passed out two menus. Ruby was careful with Weiss's skirt, pulling it up under her so she sat on it flat. She had already gotten hallway dirt on it, so she figured it was best not to add wrinkles to her list of crimes.
"I will return for your orders in a few minutes." He said, bowed, and left, closing the glass door of the balcony behind him.
"Why'd we come out here?" Ruby asked. "I mean, I don't mind... it isn't windy anymore, or cold. But still..."
"I like to watch the rain." Weiss replied, a distant expression in her eyes. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked out at the sheets of water pouring from the sky.
"Oh. Uh... I guess it's nice... though it's really coming down isn't it? I mean, after last night, you wouldn't think there would be this much..." Ruby laughed awkwardly and trailed off. What could she say? Gah! This was so frustrating! For lack of anything better to do, she looked down at the menu.
There was a pause.
"...Uh, Weiss." Ruby said hesitantly.
"Hmm?" The other girl's eyes flicked over to meet Ruby's.
"I can't read French." Ruby said lamely, like somehow she should be ashamed of it.
"Oh, of course." Weiss murmured. She stood up, lifted her chair, and placed it next to Ruby's. Somehow, that seemed surprising. It was somehow wrong for Weiss to lift anything, like she should have someone do it for her. Then Ruby shook her head. That was ridiculous. Weiss was one of the most independent people she had ever met. Of course she could lift her own chair.
Geez Ruby. Head in the game.
Weiss was sitting very close, she realized, and she swallowed hard.
"What do you like to eat?" Weiss asked, pointing at different spots on the menu. "For instance, that's pork, and there's beef, and there's soups."
"Um... beef?" Ruby said, thinking of the steak sauce in the fridge back home.
"In that case, I would recommend the filet mignon, with the mushrooms and Madeira." Weiss said. "It's excellent, a specialty of the chef."
That second word, excellent, sent a chill down Ruby's spine.
The waiter returned just then, interrupting them for a brief moment while he took their orders. Then they were alone again.
"Do you know why I like the rain, like this?" Weiss asked suddenly.
Ruby didn't know if she was expected to reply, but as Weiss continued, she realized she wasn't. "It's because we could be anywhere. Look, you can't even see the school. This could be a balcony anywhere, at any time and in any place."
Somehow, that was the most romantic thing Ruby had ever heard. "Yeah... now that you mention it, the buildings are just smudges. If I didn't know what I was looking for I couldn't even tell."
Ruby was struck with a sudden urge to draw, so she dove her backpack, which was resting against her chair, pulling out a sketchpad with thick white paper and a set of pencils.
"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, sounding intrigued.
"I just want to sketch this." Ruby replied. She captured the balcony in a few quick, thick strokes, adding in the background of the rain with some lighter, densely clustered ones, the scene beginning to take shape. Just then the waiter came back, carrying two plates of food. Ruby didn't know what Weiss had ordered, it had been in French after all, but she could see now that it was a thick, creamy soup.
"Thank you." Weiss said kindly, and again the waiter was gone. Just before he left, he looked over Ruby's shoulder.
"If I may, miss, that is an excellent drawing." He said, eyes sparkling. "Of the other lady, correct?" Ruby looked down. She had begun to capture Weiss's clothes, and the table, with a single curve of the other girl's jaw resting on top of her long neck.
Ruby blushed a brilliant shade of crimson, and the waiter left, chuckling to himself.
Weiss glared after him. "I don't like what he was-" She stopped. "Nevermind." Almost angrily, she lifted her spoon and took a bite of the soup.
Ruby lifted a bite of mushroom to her mouth, the other hand sketching madly. She bit down over her fork.
Oh so good...
Ruby couldn't help it, she hummed a little, the creamy mushroom was absolutely bursting with flavor. It was one of the best things she had ever tasted.
"Oh wow." She said, once she had finished chewing. "That's awesome." She tried to find other words, but it was like that first time seeing Weiss. English had failed her. Stupid words. They were never there when she needed them...
"I'm glad you like it." Weiss replied, taking a dainty sip of her soup.
"Yeah. Wow, thanks so much." Ruby said, eagerly scooping a big bite into her mouth. Weiss frowned at that.
"You'll choke." She said pointedly, her expression annoyed.
Ruby laughed guiltily. "Oops, sorry. Guess I got a bit carried away..." She set down her drawing and got to work on her meal, and despite managing to reign herself in enough to take smaller bites, she demolished it in around ten minutes. She went back to sketching, her brow furrowed as she stared at the paper. She was so focused, in fact, that she didn't notice Weiss was standing right behind her until a little breath tickled her ear. She jumped, pencil skittering across the paper.
Blushing furiously, Ruby hunched her shoulders and rubbed at the offending mark with her eraser. She felt bad about screwing up in front of Weiss... she must think she was such a spaz...
Finally, the drawing was done and met with Ruby's standards. Weiss leaned in closer to see, her breath cool on Ruby's ear.
"It's excellent." She breathed.
That word again. Ruby gulped.
"You know, you never gave me the other one I saw you doing yesterday." Weiss remarked.
"Oh! Oh right!" Ruby flipped a couple pages back in the sketchbook, away from the bodies she had drawn earlier in class, to the drawing in question. Carefully, she pulled it out, the paper coming cleanly away from the glue holding the book together. She repeated the process with the second drawing, and offered them both to Weiss.
"Here you go."
Weiss took them, and drew something out of her own bag, a white binder. She tucked the drawings carefully in, doing it extremely slowly to avoid any wrinkles.
"Thank you."
Two simple words, but Ruby had never felt so alive.
They sat their for a few more minutes, just looking out at the rain together, and suddenly, Ruby had a crazy urge to be somewhere, anywhere else. Somewhere this moment could last forever.
Because no matter how much she wished it, the rain was hiding their school, not a silent world where the only people alive were the two of them. They would have to leave, and leave soon.
Weiss had been right.
It was amazing to imagine that it could be any place, any time, anywhere. But maybe she had been wrong too.
They were here, now, and that was beautiful in it's own way. Ruby realized she wouldn't want to be anywhere but here and now...
Next to this girl.
This girl she...
Then the waiter came.
The magic was broken.
And before she knew it, Weiss was gone, vanished into the rain.
This was 90% written to Arwen's Vigil by the Piano Guys, Rolling in the Deep by Adele, and S&M by Rihanna. Nope, it doesn't make any sense to me either. Like, that playlist had nothing to do with what I was writing... I think Arwen's Vigil was on there to help me think, Rolling in the Deep got added because I wanted to hear it for no reason, and S&M... well, probly because I thought of my girlfriend and that's kind her theme song.
I mean, she's wonderful and I love her to death, but that girl she has a really, really scary mind.
Oh, and as usual, my wonderful beta, Wendy Crescent, is to thank for anything I write. I'm never publishing anything without her ever again. She is responsible for that ending, which is, I think, the best way I've ever ended anything.
Oh. Last thing really. Does anyone remember The Frost and the Rose? Because I reused the restaurant name. Though I think I classed it up a little... what do you guys think?
Elea