"So anyway, that's what Winter said." Weiss finished explaining her sister's voice-mail to Ruby as the two gathered supplies in the kitchen.
"Well, I guess there's nothing to worry about for a while. We can't do anything until she comes through anyway." Ruby said, heaving the bucket of water out of the sink and onto the floor. She tossed in a small yellow pellet and poured some green liquid in before tossing a few rags in as well. "No use worrying about it before we can do anything about it."
"I guess you're right." Weiss sighed. "So anyway, what are we doing with this stuff?"
"We're going to surprise my Dad." Ruby said with a smile. "Yang and Blake are asleep upstairs. I heard them get in about four in the morning. Dad came home an hour ago but you were in the shower then. He said his partner agreed to take his pager so he could get more than an hour of sleep since he's apparently been going for a few days already. He seemed basically dead and didn't even ask about who else was here, so he must have been exhausted."
"Okay then. I guess it couldn't hurt since he'll probably recognize me as a Schnee." Weiss said and helped Ruby take the bucket to the front hall.
"So, I'll go get the vacuum and you start dusting everything." Ruby said as she turned to leave.
"Are you sure the vacuum won't wake him up?" Weiss asked, remembering Ruby's warning to be quiet on the second floor while her father was sleeping.
"It won't." Ruby said confidently. "For some reason he only wakes up to talking, or things breaking. He's never been woken by the vacuum for some reason."
She shrugged and left Weiss to start her work. Weiss didn't question Ruby further and started her work that was also her duty back in the dorm. She quickly worked her way out of the entrance hall and into the living room. She took care while dusting the ancient looking cube of a television before she turned her attention to the furniture. She was about to use her glyphs to climb to the picture frames when a noise like a jet engine roared to life in the entrance hall.
She ran around the corner, wet rag in hand, to find Ruby standing beside a shop vacuum with a carpet attachment. She had noise canceling headphones over her ears and didn't notice Weiss standing at the doorway.
Weiss sighed and returned to her work now even more confused as to how Ruby's father could remain sleeping with that machine roaring.
Over the next hour, her and Ruby finished the first floor and took a break in the kitchen. After a glass of milk and some cookies, the two set to work on the second floor, entering only the empty room that was devoid of furniture. Weiss paused at the door with the sun on it as Ruby finished with the vacuuming.
"Weiss!" Ruby whispered harshly as she exited the room across from her own and almost tripped as she stumbled for Weiss.
"Be more careful!" Weiss whispered back after catching her girlfriend. "I was just going to ask about this room. Is there anything to clean inside?"
"Yeah, but I'll do it later, okay?" Ruby asked. "Nobody goes in there anyhow."
"If you're sure." Weiss answered, again getting the feeling she was missing something important.
"Just go to the basement. I'll come behind you. And whatever you do, don't mess with the black bench." Ruby said, shooing Weiss away from the door towards the end of the hall. "Do whatever you want to the other one."
Weiss followed Ruby's instruction, not too concerned that she was being frustratingly vague. The staircase turned out to be a spiral of steel without a single light the entire way down. The darkness was so pure that Weiss found herself carefully descending while holding the rail with a death-grip. Eventually she felt her foot tap solid cement and felt along the wall to a piece of wood she assumed was a door. After another moment of fumbling she found the handle and pushed it open to reveal a massive room that spanned almost the entire length of the house. A large old furnace was situated in the center of the room with an anvil set up as what she recognized as a home smithy. Along the long side of the room stretched a large black bench. On it were a variety of tools and components, only half of which Weiss had ever seen before and a fair few of them were products from her family's weaponry division. She was actually surprised at the sheer amount of equipment there was on the bench as well as how it was so clean it looked as if the bench had been placed there for show not an hour before. She turned to the other side of the room where a much shorter bench stretched.
This bench was painted with red highlights to the black and had fresh, unpainted plywood covering the work surface. One end of the bench was covered with a plastic cover and the rest had a healthy layer of dust that spoke to a few months of neglect. The floor of the place was immaculate but whether that was from regular care or Ruby starting down here, Weiss couldn't tell. She started dusting Ruby's bench as Ruby continued to clank her way down the stairs with the vacuum.
Weiss had just finished dusting the plastic cover when Ruby came through the still open door huffing slightly with the large circular device trailing behind her.
"Can I take the dust cover off?" Weiss asked, pointing to the plastic with her rag as Ruby pushed the vacuum into a corner.
"Sure. Don't worry about the stuff under it. That's my bench." Ruby said as she went up to the furnace and pulled on a pair of gloves. "I'm just going to check the furnace. Dad and Qrow always forget they should keep it clean to get it hotter."
"Be careful." Weiss replied returning to her task.
She pulled the plastic carefully to make sure she wouldn't pull anything off the bench but realized afterward that Ruby had thought of that when she'd put it on.
Under the sheet was four large crates filled to the brim with assorted components. One seemed to be for electrical parts, a second seemed to be for metal scrap, the third seemed to be for ammunition components judging by lengths of tubing and a sealed ammunition crate and vial of propellant. The fourth had a solid metal box lining the inside and held an assortment of hammers, wrenches, and pliers. Weiss noticed that the box on the inside was smaller than the outside and realized there were actually two smaller boxes under the main one.
Her curiosity moved her hand to the crate then she stopped. I shouldn't be snooping in Ruby's stuff. I'll ask her later if I really want to know.
She moved away from the bench that was now dust free and found herself looking at a plain wooden wall that stood at the end of Ruby's bench. In it was another plain wooden door with a handle. She started reaching for the handle when Ruby yelled and a loud clang echoed through the room.
"Ow! Weiss! Stop! Ugh…" Ruby grunted as she fell out of the furnace and dashed over to Weiss, sweeping her arm around her and steering her away from the door.
"What's in there?" Weiss asked, alarmed at Ruby's reaction.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Ruby replied quickly. Under Weiss's piercing gaze she sighed and continued with a bit more honesty. "OK, there is stuff in there… but I want it to be a surprise."
"Alright." Weiss sighed and looked around. "So are we done then?"
"Just have to clean one more intake. Then I'll be done." Ruby said. She quickly stepped away from Weiss and realized the mistake she'd made in her rush to keep the door shut. "I'm so sorry, Weiss."
Weiss looked down to find black smudges staining her dress. Somehow, she'd seen something like this happening since they started their work and simply shook her head. "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. What will I do with you?"
"Feed me cookies? Get me to do your laundry?" Ruby suggested quickly. "Just please don't yell at me!"
Weiss stopped and looked up at Ruby. "You think I want to yell at you?"
"No, I didn't mean… It's just that…" Ruby blurted, her mouth running faster than her brain.
"No, I get it." Weiss sighed. "I haven't always been the nicest of people."
"That's not at all-" Ruby started but Weiss interrupted her.
"It's fine. This was ready for the wash anyhow. I was expecting to get dirty today." Weiss said, hoping Ruby would stop her false flattery.
"Oh… okay then." Ruby said as a smile crept onto her face. "Then you won't mind if I do this!"
Ruby flashed away from her place, rose petals falling in a shower behind her as she scooped Weiss into a big hug that Weiss realized after a moment was actually Ruby rubbing against her so all the ash and coal stains on her would stain Weiss's outfit.
"Ruby stop!" Weiss objected as Ruby found a ticklish spot with her roaming hand. Ruby seemed to notice as she grinned evilly.
"I guess this'll be payback for yesterday!" Ruby announced as she attacked Weiss's side with delicate fingers forcing Weiss to burst into laughter and swat at Ruby's hand while her other was wrapped around her neck.
"Ruby… ahaha… I can't… hahaha… stand up anymore!" Weiss choked out in between gasps of laughter.
Ruby felt Weiss's legs wobble and give out as she continued her assault. But since Weiss was quite light, Ruby held her in place and continued till Weiss fell silent gasping for breath and clutching her free arm around her ribs. Ruby quickly picked her up and placed her down on her newly cleaned workbench.
"You're… the… worst…" Weiss said between gasps as she caught her breath. She had one arm draped over her forehead to shield her eyes from the fluorescent light above her.
"Nope." Ruby said and Weiss moved her arm just in time to see Ruby sweep her shirt up off her stomach and lean down. Ruby blew a raspberry on Weiss's stomach that sent tingles shooting to all of Weiss's limbs. Weiss burst out into laughter again and arched her back as Ruby stopped as if wanting her to continue. She fell back to the plywood breathing hard and glaring at her girlfriend. "Now I'm the worst!"
Ruby giggled even as her face had taken on a deep blush. Weiss smiled that she was at least somewhat embarrassed about what she'd just done.
"Well, you two seem quite lively today." A monotonous voice said from the door to the stairs.
"Blake!" Ruby jumped and Weiss quickly ran her hand down her front to push her shirt down.
"How long have you been there?" Weiss asked quickly, fighting mentally to keep the blush off her face.
"Not long." She replied with a grin. "You're lucky Yang's making breakfast and your Dad is still asleep. The food will be ready in ten minutes."
Blake turned and disappeared up the dark staircase quicker than Weiss or Ruby would ever dare to climb them, leaving the couple in silence.
"We really have to figure out some kind of warning system." Ruby stated with a slight groan looking at Weiss with a nervous smile.
"I think I owe you some payback for this." Weiss said teasingly.
"What?" Ruby took a step back.
"Well, not only did you do this." Weiss sat up and gestured to her black stained outfit. "You tickled me breathless, put me on this table and… you know… did that."
"Uh… well…" Ruby took another nervous step back.
"You wanted a tickle war, you've got one." Weiss winked and Ruby calmed down realizing Weiss wasn't angry.
"Oh, you're going down!" Ruby taunted, sticking out her tongue.
"Trust me, by the time we're back at beacon you'll have laughed so hard you'll have a sore throat." Weiss grinned.
"We'll see who has the sore throat!" Ruby argued back. Weiss saw the fire of competition burn behind her girlfriend's eyes and smiled to herself. This break might just turn around yet.