Chapter 34: The Art Of Cleaning
Hey, I'm glad you stopped by! It's your pal, The Draigg! Now, I've got a nice spread of chapter and plot here, so feel free to dig right in. What? No, I didn't make RWBY. I got this stuff by the dude who made it: Monty Oum. Now, let's kick back and enjoy this chapter, huh?
Anxiety filled the air that Friday. It was that evening that Task Force Musical was to help out Weiss with her family problems. Why? Because they were friends, that's why. Or, heck, they felt even closer than that. What other reason could they really need? The whole group felt that they could depend on their partners no matter what.
So, with everyone crowded into Team RWBY's dorm room, they were ready to help their friends. Well, to varying degrees of interest, anyway. Ren, being his reserved, stoic self, watched the group settle into place rather detachedly. On the polar opposite of the spectrum, Velvet decided to throw herself at Weiss and Ruby as soon as she walked in the room. She tried to pull the pair into a group hug. Oh, their love was intense! It was full of all sorts of plot twists and turns! It was just like one of Velvet's visual novels!
Weiss and Ruby were having a hard time breathing in Velvet's grasp. She certainly had deceptively strong arms.
"You're crushing my spine!", Weiss complained.
"Can't… breathe…", gasped out Ruby.
Letting go of the pair, Velvet grabbed each of their hands and looked deeply into their eyes.
"I SWEAR. I won't fail you! This love can't fail!", Velvet declared, as if she was making some grand oath or something.
Ruby and Weiss eyed each other with some disbelief. It was nice that Velvet supported their relationship, but her own experience was a tad iffy. Judging from that PSA from two months ago that nearly violated the laws of nature in it's mediocrity, Velvet probably didn't have a good understanding of sex, let alone relationships.
Velvet, in her own mind, was a self-proclaimed expert on relationships. All of those hours spent playing visual novels and reading romantic manga would be paid off here. In fact, if she didn't make it as a Huntress, Velvet thought she should become a couple's therapist. It would be noble goal, if she wasn't delusional on her actual abilities.
"So, what do you need help with?", Velvet asked as she sat down.
"Well, all we ask of you all is that you help us clean this room. You know, make it presentable.", Weiss explained.
"What? You weren't using specific gifts to turn over the inspector?", Velvet questioned. Were they NOT trying to seduce the inspector?
Very confused muttering came from around her, as Velvet's question sank in.
"…No… I wasn't planning on bribing anyone.", Weiss drawled out.
"But what about the way you dress? Or, what's the harem option?", Velvet ranted on. She was wracking her brain trying to come up with something to help. Her visual novels didn't prepare her for this!
"Did someone say harem?", Blake asked, leaning out of her chair. Now that really grabbed her interest.
Yang pulled her back by the shoulder. "Calm down, kitty.", she said.
Blake looked a little disappointed. Oh well, she could at least fantasize about a harem later.
Ruby finally spoke up. "Velvet, I have no idea what you're talking about.", she admitted.
To be fair, nobody really got what Velvet was talking about. Except for Blake, naturally. There was very little she wasn't willing to try.
"Look, I'm sure that we'll look fine the way we're dressed. All we need to do is make this room look less like…", Weiss paused, looking around, "… a wretched disaster. That's all".
"I think we should start with these beds.", Ren suggested. It was easily some of the sloppiest workmanship he had ever seen.
"Agreed.", said Weiss.
Begrudgingly, Ruby agreed. "Fine. Let's get to it, then.", she ordered. Honestly, she was proud of her rope system that held up her bunk. It took a quite a while to get it just right.
Team RWBY and Team JNPR plus Velvet started to work on the bunks. Velvet thought it was odd that they would use perfectly good books to make bunks. Yet again, it certainly made more sense than using ropes suspended from the ceiling. That seemed like an absurdly risky idea.
"Hey, what are these books, anyway?, Jaune asked, picking one up. Flipping through the pages, he saw some rather graphically drawn pictures. Pictures of stuff that you would have to pay extra for. Whose book was this?
"Ohh! What's that?", Nora asked, looking over Jaune's shoulder. She pointed at one diagram. Both of them tilted their heads at the picture. How did that even fit in there like that?
"What's that book about?", Pyrrha also asked, leaning over to see what they were looking at as well.
"What're you doing? We should get back to—", Ren started to complain, before looking at the book as well. His face went the way of the stop light. First, it was green with sickness, then paled to a sickly yellow, then finally red with embarrassment.
Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha were mesmerized with what they were seeing. That couldn't be good. Thinking quickly, Ren grabbed the book out of Jaune's hands. Opening the window, he threw the book out.
"Hey!", Jaune cried out in surprise.
"My old dream journal!", Blake cried out as she ran over to the window.
Closing the window, Ren stared at Blake. It was hers? Blake could feel his stare bore through her head. Soon, the idea clicked in the rest of Team JNPR's heads as well. They all gave her odd looks as well.
"Umm… who wants drinks? I want a drink.", Blake tried to change the subject. It clearly wasn't working.
"I'll… just get a few.", she quickly said, dashing out of the room. Team JNPR was convinced that they would need to wash their hands after handling all of those books. Jaune took a risk sniffing his hand. He immediately regretted it.
Meanwhile, just a few feet away, Team RWY plus Velvet were working on untying the top bunk from the ceiling. Yang was under the top bunk, trying to hold it up. Velvet was trying to help her from down below. It helped that she got a good look at Yang's abs from this angle. Ruby and Weiss were working on untying the intricate knot system that Ruby set in place after it fell that one time a few months ago.
Ruby was a little sad that she was taking down her hard work. That bunk was one of the first things she worked on as team leader. But, she also acknowledged it as a sacrifice made for a girlfriend. It made that pain sting less. Plus, since she pretty much shared a bed with Weiss nowadays anyway, she didn't even use it that much anymore.
"Guys, I hate to be a burden and all, but can you hurry up? I can't feel my arms.", Yang asked, straining to keep the bed up. Her arms had lost their circulation, so she was holing up that bed by sheer willpower alone at this point.
"We're trying, okay?", Weiss said impatiently. She wanted this thing done quickly as well.
"Well, could you just cut the ropes or something?", pleaded Yang. She could feel her arms start to give out, and the looks that Velvet was giving to her midriff were starting to concern her.
"Good idea. Velvet, can you hand me knife?", Ruby asked. What better way to deal with her connection to her bunk than get it over with quickly?
Velvet snapped out of her staring when she heard Ruby's request.
"Oh, sure.", she replied. Digging around her pockets, she found the small pocketknife attached to her glasses case. It was a good thing that her skirt had deep pockets. Taking off the knife, Velvet handed it to Ruby. Then, Velvet shifted her attention back to Yang's abs. Damn! She could grate cheese on those things!
Weiss immediately held out her hand as Ruby was about to start cutting. "Give it to me.", she ordered.
"Uh, why?", Ruby asked in response.
"I don't trust you around sharp things, that's why.", justified Weiss.
"Weiss, I'm a certified scythe wielder. What make you think this is different?", Ruby shot back. She was a Huntress (in training)! She could handle something sharp!
"This is different! Just give it already!", cried an aggravated Weiss. Why did her girlfriend need to be difficult?
Giving a huff in frustration, Ruby handed over the pocketknife. It was best not to get into a silly argument over something as trivial as this.
"Thank you.", Weiss said, still a little peeved. Once she cut a supporting rope, the whole bunk crashed down on Yang.
"Bad idea! BAD IDEA!", Yang yelled out from under the bed. She only had a foot of space between the bunks.
Panicking, Weiss, Ruby and Velvet tried to lift the bed while Team JNPR looked on in shock.
"No! The abs—I mean, my friend!", Velvet thought.
Luckily, the group managed to lift the bed off of Yang and put on the floor. Man, Yang wasn't kidding when she said it was heavy. However, Weiss and Ruby were concerned that they would have to make another visit to the Medical Ward. Both groaned inwardly at that thought. They both had enough of that place several times over already.
Luckily for them, Yang popped up, perfectly fine. She had used her aura at the last second, lessening the power of the blow. All that was on her was a small bruise on her arm.
"Oh my, Yang! Are you okay?", Velvet asked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Barely even banged up.", replied Yang.
"I think I should check.", Velvet breathed out quickly, moving her hands towards Yang's abs. Unfortunately, her hands were crushed in Yang's grip.
"I said I'm FINE.", Yang growled through her teeth. She wouldn't stand being used like that. Velvet already caused enough stuff with her. She didn't need to add more to the list.
Yelping, Velvet cried, "Okay, okay! Sorry!". Having her hands let go, she rubbed them, whimpering. Velvet had flown too close to the sun and got burned. This was an oddly appropriate metaphor, considering who Yang was.
"Whew! We got scared for a second there!", Jaune exclaimed. He wiped some nervous sweat from his forehead in an exaggerated motion.
"Ahh, don't SWEAT it, Jaune!", Yang punned. Of course, every Human, Faunus, animal, and creature of Grimm groaned in a three mile radius. Some people didn't know why they did it, but it seemed appropriate to do.
"Really should have left her under the bed…", Ren mumbled to himself.
"Aww come on, it's was a joke! Everyone likes jokes!", Yang complained, trying to defend herself.
"It wasn't really a joke.", Ren said, shaking his head. "Jokes are usually funny.".
Yang pouted and crossed her arms. "You guys are no fun.", she groaned.
"Can we please get back to work?", Weiss intervened. This really wasn't the time for all of this goofy stuff.
"Thank you!", Ren agreed. Turning back to the bunk Team JNPR was working on, he removed the last stack of books.
Seeing that Ren had gone back to work, the rest of his team prepared to lift the bed to put it on the floor. Grabbing the edges of Yang's bunk, Pyrrha lifted one side and Jaune and Nora lifted the other. They hefted it onto the ground.
Now that both beds were on the ground, where they couldn't crush people, the next issue was rearranging the room so that it wouldn't look messy. That was an even bigger task than dealing with the bunks.
For some reason, there was a large pile of drained energy drink cans shoved off into one corner of the room. That, and the undersides of the (former) bottom bunks needed to be cleaned. That worried the work group the most. So, they decided to divide the work in the most reliable and responsible manner possible.
"Rock, paper, scissors!", Ruby called out as she threw out her hand in a fist shape.
Jaune, thinking quickly, threw out scissors. Unfortunately, that meant that his team lost. He hung his head when he realized what he would have to clean.
"Jaune, get to work on under the beds.", Weiss ordered. Nodding in silence, he shuffled over to Blake's bed and started to root around under there.
Team RWY plus Velvet decided to tackle the trash mountain. Yang always said she would clean the corner, but the last time she actually did was roughly a month ago, after the smell of stale energy drinks got into their clothes and the carpeting. It took several cans of air freshener to get rid of that stench.
"You know, I think we can get some money for all these cans.", Yang pointed out as she shoved the cans into a large bag.
"Yeah! How much do you think we can get?", Ruby asked enthusiastically. Maybe they could get some video games!
Weiss quickly did the math in her head. "We would only get twenty lien.", she announced. That deflated Ruby's excitement. Dejected, Ruby kept on putting cans in the bag.
Jaune, in the meantime, found a box underneath Blake's bed. Weird, what was a cardboard box doing there? On the lid, the word 'Beef" was stenciled on. Placing the box on the bed, Team JNPR gathered around to see what was in it. But, someone needed to be brave to open it.
Taking one for the team, Jaune opened the box. He had to wash his hands regardless, after handling that book. It wasn't as if things could get worse.
Inside the box was a stack of magazine, with the foil covers still on them. The looked as if they were in pristine condition. Nora, not understanding the clear risk, picked one at random and started to read it.
"Wow! That guy sure is muscular! I wonder if I can get like that.", Nora thought as she saw the centerfold of the male model. However, while Nora was focused on his arm muscles, everyone else's vison was drawn lower. How the hell did that guy even walk with that thing?
It was at this point that Blake walked back into the room. She carried a shopping bag full of soda she got from the snack bar.
"I hope you don't mind just having cola…", Blake started to say, before noticing the magazine in their hands, and her special box on the bed.
Team JNPR collectively looked at Blake as soon as she spoke up. Man, she chose a bad time to walk back in.
"…I'm going to get some different flavors.", Blake quickly excused herself. With that, she dashed out if the room again.
Taking the magazine out of Nora's hands, Jaune put it back in the box. As he shoved the box back under the bed, he felt foolish for thinking that nothing weird would happen after the book incident.
Standing back up, Jaune was accidentally hit by the large bag of cans as Yang hefted it over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. He just couldn't catch a break today. When he looked at the garbage corner, it looked pretty nice all cleaned up.
"Wow! Everything looks way better now!", Ruby exclaimed, looking around the room.
"Are you done with the beds?", Weiss asked Jaune.
He lied through his teeth. "Yeah.", he said. He wasn't going to stick his hand down there again. Now, Jaune was a little afraid of what else he might find under the beds.
"Well, that does it!", Ruby declared. "Thanks for the help!".
"Wait! Are you sure you don't want my advice?", Velvet asked. She still needed to prove how good at counseling she was!
"We're quite fine, thank you.", Weiss said as she pushed Velvet out into the hallway. She didn't want to hear her questionable advice now.
Team JNPR filed out after Velvet. All of them made a beeline to their room, hoping to use the bathroom sink first.
Weiss and Ruby looked around the dorm room. It looked presentable now. There's no way the inspector wouldn't appreciate a clean room.
"Ready for tomorrow?", Ruby asked Weiss as she locked the door for the night.
"A Schnee is ALWAYS ready.", Weiss boasted. Then, she lowered her head a little. "Thanks for helping me, Ruby.", she then whispered.
Ruby patted her girlfriend's shoulder. "No problem, Weiss. Now, we should probably go to bed. We need a lot of energy for tomorrow.", said Ruby. She walked over to her dresser and began to change into her pajamas.
Nodding, Weiss began to change into her nightgown. She was definitely ready to face tomorrow. But, she couldn't help as if she and Ruby were forgetting something. Oh well, small inconveniences didn't matter tonight.
Tossing the sack of cans into the large bin outside the dorms, Yang felt satisfied. If this could help out her little sister and her girlfriend, she could deal with cleaning up her room. Walking back in, she saw Blake browsing the vending machines in the main lobby.
"Watcha, doin', kitty cat?", Yang asked.
Blake hid her surprise well as she answered Yang. "Just looking for different types of drinks.", she replied. That was only a pretense. It was embarrassing for her that her friends discovered not only her old dream journal, but her beefcake stash as well.
"It's a little late for sugar. Come on, let's go back.", Yang said, pulling her partner away from the soda machines.
Walking down the hallway, Yang tried to make some small talk.
"So, what do you think of Weiss and Ruby… you know… dating?", she asked Blake.
"I saw it coming from a mile away.", Blake replied nonchalantly. That struck Yang with some surprise.
"Really?", Yang asked.
"It seemed pretty obvious she was attracted from the get-go. Angry academic types ALWAYS fall for sweet, kind girls. It never fails.", justified Blake. In a way, she was right. That's how it always was in fiction.
"I guess that makes sense… a bit", conceded Yang.
Arriving at their door, Yang turned the knob. The door didn't budge. Were they locked out? Again?
Yang tried ramming the door slightly with her elbow. It didn't budge.
"Did you even try your scroll?", Blake asked, before holding her own up to the I.D. scanner above the doorknob. The door clicked open. Blake gave Yang a 'You see?' type of look.
"Well… I made it open quicker!", Yang said, trying to save her dignity.
Inside, Team White Rose was cuddled next to each other, already asleep. If and and Blake were to guess, they were trying to conserve as much energy as possible. Tiptoeing over to their own beds, Yang and Blake slipped under their covers. They could just undress underneath them.
A few minutes later, silence filled the now darkened room. Team RWBY had fallen asleep. They would need all the rest they could get.
Tomorrow was a date with destiny.
Oh, snap! Did you see that! Another chapter down! Wow! The only thing left to do is leave a review for me to read! I would be really awesome if that happened! Now, if you'll excuse me, this is The Draigg, signing off to get some more snacks and drinks.