Weiss had avoided Yang as per her normal routines, purposefully ignoring and avoiding her attempts to appologize for the misunderstanding. She had not forgiven Yang and decided she'd give the matter more thought once the bruising had vanished. She had even gotten mad at Ruby for mentioning Yang.
"Just you here, huh?"
Weiss looked up from her books to find Blake sitting down on the opposite side of her table in the corner of the library.
"Yes. Ruby's studying by herself today." Weiss stated. In fact she'd revoked her offer to help the girl when she started pushing Weiss to at least listen to her sister's appology.
"…" Blake cocked an eyebrow sceptically. Maybe it was her tendency to formulate fictional relationships between characters in her books but for the first time, it had started coming out in her real life relationships with Ruby and Weiss.
Weiss looked like she wanted to say something to Blake about the look on her face, but realized acknowleging it would just lead to a long, awkward conversation. One she had no intention of starting. She looked back down at her notes unseeing. She read the words written there several times over before she realized she was getting nowhere.
"Confound it!" Weiss slammed the text book shut on her notes and shoved it back into her bag in one swift movement. She rubbed her bleary eyes and looked up at Blake who was watching her over her everpresent book.
"Done for the day?" She asked uncaringly as she turned a page, her eyes seeming to scan the page and keep a firm gaze on Weiss at the same time.
"Yes, I believe so." Weiss answered, replacing the pens into her pencil case and slipping it back into her bag beside her books. "Will you be staying here longer?"
"No, I came to find you actually." Blake answered.
"If this is another plea to listen to Yang, forget it." Weiss responded, waiting to stand until their conversation was completed.
"What you do is your business." Blake replied, knowing Weiss would appreciate the conversation more if it sounded like she was just stating facts.
"Well, that makes one of you that respects boundaries." Weiss grumbled, closing her eyes and sighing. "Both of them just say what they want and expect it to happen. I wont be ordered around like some common slave."
"You realize that the concept goes two ways, right?" When Weiss didn't respond, Blake snapped her book shut and put it down on the table. "They say listen, and you respond shut up. It's the exact same thing but reversed."
"I suppose you make a valid point." Weiss admitted grudgingly. "Although I don't see the necessity for them to be so persistent about this."
"Have you tried seeing it from their point of view?" Blake asked, once again raising her eyebrow in scepticism.
"There isn't much to see. Yang's feeling guilty about overreacting, and Ruby wants me to get along with that brute." Weiss stated, her tone flat.
"You might be right in terms of Yang, but not Ruby." Blake replied, knowing Yang's thought process went no further than a slight guilt about the incident. "Ruby doesn't just want you two to get along, she wants you to be friends."
"That can't even be described as a stupid idea!" Weiss laughed. "That goes so far past stupid I can't even begin to describe it!"
"Exactly how much do you know about Ruby?" Blake asked after Weiss's laughter had died down. "About her old friends, and her personality specifically."
Weiss shook her head, not trusting herself to speak just yet. In all honesty, she'd wondered here and there, but for the most part all she saw was a hyperactive, cookie loving girl with an unhealthy attachment to her weapon. She'd always assumed Ruby'd had friends that she wrote to, but had never been interested enough to ask about them.
"Yang told me a while ago that we were the closest thing Ruby's ever had to real friends." Blake smiled at the shocked look on Weiss's face. "Before Beacon, Yang was basically Ruby's only friend. Not counting teachers who found her quite enjoyable apparently. Anyhow, she's probably feeling caught in the middle of you and Yang right now. The no man's land as it were."
"Why on Remnant would she feel caught between her sister and me? I couldn't care less if they disappeared tomorrow never to be seen again." Weiss stood, Blake following her out of the library back to the dorm.
"That's a lie." Blake responded once they passed the lady at the front counter. "I know you like Ruby, and I can't imagine someone who didn't care offering to become a tutor."
Weiss didn't respond to Blake since she knew it was another point for her line of reasoning. After they turned another corner, Blake continued.
"And as for the why…. Ruby's different than us, empathetic to a fault. She can't just ignore when her friends are suffering. I'm sure she felt the rage of her sister and the guilt that followed, but also your pain for dealing with it." Blake fell silent as another student came within earshot and passed. "It's a lot for one person to feel, and that's not including her own emotions on the matter. I'm sure she also feels guilty for starting the whole thing by asking you to help her study, and if she doesn't yet then it'll come once her brain has time to percolate with the facts."
"Come on, how could she possibly think any of this was her fault?" Weiss's dismissive tone was rubbing a nerve in Blake, but she knew Weiss well enough from watching that she hid her true emotions extremely well beneath the spiky words and tone she often adopted.
"People tend to blame themselves, it's human nature." Blake responded slyly. "And Ruby's not the type to force anything on anyone, she'll hold onto that guilt until it's resolved in one way or another. Who knows, if Yang was right that she really hasn't had any friends, then she'll feel like she's losing her first and best friend because of her sister. If that happens, then nobody involved wins."
"Fine, you've made your point. I'll say something to them." Weiss grumbled, opening the door to find Yang and Ruby both jumping out of their bunks.