So, a little peak behind the cutains, originally this chapter included Blake scenes of her meeting Adam. However, I found that it'd come out a little awkward and disconected when having to share space with Ruby/Jaune's scene. It also, on further reading, felt like it had to awkwardly stop in the middle of the confrontation just to stop this chapter from getting obnoxiously big. I decided to cut out those scenes and make them into the next chapter so they can have the full focus, as well as finish of Jaune and Ruby's meeting with Pyrrha here.

This means the next chapter should come faster than over a month since half of it is already written.

It was a tense silence. The type of tension that swept the room with an immense pressure on your throat, not enough to choke you, just enough to tell you it was there and that you will never feel comfortable. It felt oddly voyeuristic in a way, Ruby staring at Pyrrha while Pyrrha watched Jaune outside, a struggle of jealousy and fury welling up in the corner of her eyes. Ruby tried to speak, splutter out a greeting, bring attention to that weather everyone talks about, but the words suffocated long before they had a chance to reach her tongue. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, she couldn't look away, she was stuck here in that shameful sensation of not belonging; the ultimate third wheel.

"Would you like some toast?" It was a simple question, bolstered in ominous potential by how Pyrrha didn't move or turn an inch to ask it. She was still staring out of the window, a slight twitch pulling at her tired eyes. "A crumpet? A teacake? A cheese and ham breville?"

The questions caught her so off guard and filled her with such nervous energy, the best response she could muster was "N-Nothing bready, you know? Gotta lay off the gluten. Heh." Why did she say that? Why did she chuckle? Was 'bready' even a word?

"Teacakes aren't just bready. They're quite curranty, too." Pyrrha sipped the teacup she wasn't holding, and Ruby shuffled away an extra inch.

Ruby had expected it to be an awkward situation all around, but she never imagined Pyrrha would be so intimidating. Not intimidating like someone you're worried you'll offend or embarrass, not intimidating like being faced with someone who you admire so dearly, but intimidating like walking past a stranger on a dark night and worrying about the statistical possibility of them lunging at you. There was just an aura of silent aggravation seeping out of every pour of Pyrrha's frame. She was too polite to directly unleash it upon Ruby, but in the tight, lonely space of the tidy living room, it had nowhere else to waft over.

Perhaps that's what unnerved Ruby the most, the fake nature of it all. Pyrrha was wearing a mask, the mask had small cracks to air out the violent poisons of emotion, but she was holding it all back, keeping her face together no matter the strain. Ruby could handle an outburst, whether it be an annoyed sign, welling tears or a verbal lashing that'd leave her self-esteem shattered. It would be something she could gauge, something that, even in the worst-case scenario, she could take some measure of relief from. Like when you pop a hole in a blister, it stings like hell at first, and will probably ache for the foreseeable future, but feeling the swelling go down and proverbial air escape gave you that moment of relief.

It's not like she thought Pyrrha was being unfair. There was nothing right about this entire situation and, knowing their luck so far, Ruby didn't doubt that some factoid from Larry's or Audrey's past probably made this treatment seem tame compared to what they deserved. But all Ruby could see was the Pyrrha she knew, the Pyrrha she respected, the Pyrrha she was jealous of, the Pyrrha she considered a respected friend giving the distinct impression she'd prefer to not acknowledge Ruby's existence past the bare minimum. It scared her. It hurt her. It set off all her fight-or-flight alarms.

"How…" Ruby's need to break the ice, or chip away at it the best she could, pushed the words through her lips before her brain could supply any thought to them. You've already started talking, you can't just go back to silence now! The very unforgiving voice of Ruby's internal thoughts hissed. She had exactly 2.5 seconds, thankfully drawn out from her perspective, before her unnatural pause became a worrying oddity and drag down this conversation lower than it already was. "Luuuuuuh-" That breathy, stretched-out 'l' sound languished on the tip of her tongue as her brain kicked multiple contradicting thoughts between two mental goals. "-hhhhhung… Long? Long! How, how, how long have you guys lived?" She paused. Pyrrha stared. "Here. In this house. How long have you lived here?"

"Give or take a few years," Pyrrha's voice was dry, the words uttered without pause or stutter like she was reciting a script. "the house was a wedding gift."

"Oh, that's so nice. It's a great home."

The next crack in Pyrrha's mask showed itself in a simple sigh, a stream of nervous energy pushing through gritted teeth. "It's a good house."

Ruby continued to shrink into her seat, biting back a squeak at the sudden harsh edge in response to what Ruby thought was a nice compliment. "Uh, I…" She found herself gripping the fabric of the seat cushions between her knuckles to support herself. Maybe she thought I was being sarcastic, Ruby reasoned with herself. "I meant it." Silence hung for a moment, then Ruby repeated herself just a tad louder, tired of hearing her breathing more than anything else.

"I know." Suddenly, Pyrrha's eyes were upon her. No head turn. No blink. Pyrrha's head was just now pointed directly at Ruby, and Ruby could already feel that building pressure pressing down on her shoulders. "I meant it too. It's a good house, but it's not a home." Another sigh. The dry voice became soft. "It hasn't been for a while."

Staring up at the fake sky, head against the boiling dirt, a fresh bruise on his forehead and a few stars in his eyes; It occurred to Jaune that he wasn't exactly the best at catch. His father was never the type of Dad who played sports with his kids, Jaune was never the first choice for any physical sport growing up and his weapon of choice was the type you kept firmly in your grip rather than passing it around. He wasn't an expert by any means, but he was pretty sure he was supposed to be 'catching', as the namesake implies, with his hands, not his face.

Of course, this revelation did nothing to assist him against the fifth time his son, packing more power behind his arm than Cardin with a mace, launched the ball straight into the side of Jaune's nose.

For a moment, Jaune's body treated this like an attack from a hungry predator, going limp, and playing dead while a groan reverbed throughout his body. What are those balls made out of? Metal?! However, it wasn't long before the tiny form of his merciless attacker bounded up to his fragile form and poked him with a foot. "Daaaad, are you dead?"

"I don't know, give it a minute…" Jaune made a noise, though he couldn't tell if it was a cough or a chuckle, all he knew was that it made his shoulders shudder and his torso buck upwards like it was vibrating. "Nope, I think I'll live. Though I don't think I'll live this down."

"That's okay." It was hard to quantify or even describe the warmth that swept through Jaune when he looked up at this kid, this child beaming down at him with those pure eyes that told him this boy believed he could do no wrong. That unyielding belief that could only come from a child. Despite the pain pumping into the side of his face, that simple look made Jaune feel like he was invincible.

"Did you get all of my letters? Mom said they might have got lost in the mail. Oh, if you did get them, you can't tell Mom about me breaking her favourite vase, that's a super, super secret." But such respite lasted only for a few seconds as Junior took this opportunity to barrage Jaune with every question that came to mind at a mile a minute, each question followed immediately by the rest before Jaune could even hope to answer. "Did you know I got onto, onto, uh, t-the basketball team? I can jump really high now! Ooo, and I beat your high score on the shooty games and, and, and I finished the really, really hard level all by myself!"

Jaune stomach turned inside out as if he'd just hit a sudden stop on a roller coaster, his brain sluggishly trying to catch up with the onslaught of words. "Uh, slow down there, Kiddo." Recalling a trick he used to use on his hyperactive little sister, he reached out and grabbed Junior's shoulders in a firm grip, holding the boy's overwhelming energy at bay. "You talk any faster you're gonna end up short circuiting."

"Nu-Uh." Junior groaned with the same earnestness Jaune had used many times before in childish debates with Ruby. "I can't short circle, 'cus I'm not a compooter. I'm real smart and fleshy."

"I'm sure you are." Jaune chuckled. "However, I'm not as smart, so can you slow it down for my small little dumb dad brain?"

"Y-You're not dumb…" Suddenly, Junior's little arms were around him, burying his head in Jaune's chest. Jaune's heart stopped for just a moment. "T-The kids at school say that, but that's because their dads are dumb!"

"The kids talk about… Me?"

Junior shuffled uncomfortably. "W-When you're not there… The other kids say a lot of mean things about you, and, and, and they're wrong. They say you… You don't like me… That you're dumb, just like me… And that you're a dead beat, but, but I know you're not dead and you don't make the same sound as a drum."

"Oh, Jaune." All he could think to do is sigh. Thankfully, his body finally sprang into action, instinctually returning the boy's embrace. It was frustrating, he should say more, do more, but what could he say? Larry was a deadbeat. Jaune was already in love with this kid, so he knew Larry had to be dumb to run out on him. How do you comfort someone with words you know you don't believe? "Tell you what, next time you see these boys, I'll be there with ya. See if they'll call me dumb to my face, then we'll show them what a real Arc is made of, ey?"

"That's right!" Junior raised his head from the shelter of Jaune's chest, traces of fresh tears splattered across the corner of his eye. "W-We're gonna send 'em packing."

"That's my boy." The words came so easily from Jaune's tongue, they sounded so right, they felt so natural.

"Dad…" Junior's face scrunched up together in a flurry of hesitant emotion. "Why… Why did you leave? 'Cus I'm sure you were doing something important, but Mom never wanted to talk about it."

"Well son," Jaune imagined replying in his head, with a smarmy grin and only the most easily of voices. "I realised my life was so empty, I decided to run away, abandon my family and cosplay as you in a virtual reality adventure!" Yeah, the truth was off the table. He couldn't bear the idea of not only seeing this beautiful, precious boy losing that contagious joy, but being the one to take that joy away? No, Jaune could never stomach that, not even on his worst days.

"I don't know, Son. I'm just not sure I can tell you that." That ominous phrasing instantly caught Jaune Jr's attention, a spark of joy pulling the boy to stand at attention and cast away that doubt. Instantly, Jaune Sr had an idea. "It's just that's… Top secret information.".

Junior gasped. There was nothing that could send a little boy sailing with absolute giddiness than the tantalizing words 'Top Secret'. Breaking the rules? Serious implications? An air of danger? Complete with Jaune suspiciously glancing around like he was expecting to be watched? It was no surprise when Junior let out a joyous squeak. "Come on, Dad. I'm your partner in crime. You can trust me with anything!"

Jaune squinted. "And you swear not to tell a soul?"

"Scouts' honour!"

Jaune smiled, somehow, he knew damn well this boy wasn't a scout. "Alright…" Another conspicuous look around the perimeter, pretending to wonder if the lady on the other side of the street fetching her mail was some sort of dangerous spy. When it was apparent that the coast was 'clear', Jaune leaned closer to his son. "The truth is… I'm a secret agent. Codename: Pumpkin Pete." Junior's jaw dropped like an anvil. "The woman with me is my partner, Agent Strawberry, deadliest sniper in all of Remnant! Worked for the government, learned some things I shouldn't have. Things got too heated, had to stay off the grid to keep my little buddy safe."

"I knew it!" Junior exclaimed, bouncing off Jaune's lap with the elasticity of a spring. "You're the coolest dad ever!"

Jaune couldn't help it, his body moved on its own, pulling the boy back into the loving embrace and squeezing like his life depended on it. He had to, couldn't let the boy see the tears streaking down his face. He was so happy, so enamoured, but so scared too. "I have to be, how else would I ever hope of keeping up with you?"

He knew he had to let go of the boy eventually. But now he didn't know if he'd ever be ready for that.

"I'm guessing it hasn't been easy being a single parent." The words slipped out of her mouth before her head could get in gear, Ruby not even sure whether her tone was going for light-hearted probing or sober sympathy. Still, she went with it, knowing that silence wouldn't get her anywhere. They came here for answers, and she wasn't leaving without anything to show for it. "Not that you don't make it look easy."

Pyrrha's body shifted, legs swaying back and forth trying to find a more comfortable position to squeeze one another in. She'd been still as a statue for so much of their conversation that seeing her move was like watching a machine shake off its rust, slow, stiff and robotic. "No, it isn't, I suppose." Her gaze moved over to the father and son duo crashing to the ground once more, that lingering resentment bubbling to the surface with every twitch of her eyes. "The easy part is taking care of him, believe it or not. Jaune's a good boy, smart boy, doesn't need his old mother to constantly hold his hand anymore." Her hands started rubbing together feverously as her tone lightened, Ruby could practically hear the skin cells scratching against one another. "He's been trying to learn to cook for himself lately, wants to be able to cook my favourite dish, bless his heart."

Jaune was now holding the ball up to the heavens, practically a mountain to the mini-Jaune that barely reached his knee, and yet the boy still stood proud and threw himself into the fray, an impressive jump aiming to secure himself on Jaune's chest before starting his crime. Yes, this attempt quickly ended in disaster when the boy bounced off Jaune's thick frame like he was made of plastic. But it was the effort that counted. "He seems like a great kid." Little Jaune was left to grab what little he could of his father's shirt as he plummeted, the weak material making for a poor anchor, easily ripping off and sending the boy crashing to the ground with only a strip of white fabric to show for his troubles. "Has your eyes. They're so… Fierce?"

"It's what makes the real hard part so difficult." Pyrrha was overtaken by a sad smile, the mask shattered by an overwhelming lust for expression, a lust that Ruby could sense had been building up for a while. She couldn't vent to the little boy who already had too much weight to bear, she couldn't vent to the people who knew her enough to judge her, she couldn't vent to the people she respected, but a stranger was just disconnected enough to work. The invincible girl was still afraid that people would find flesh behind her steel. "Looking into his eyes, listening to him ask about his father, lying to his face, scared to death he'll notice how much it hurts to hear him obsess over the man who left us like I'm somehow lesser."

"Oh, Pyrrha…" Ruby sighed, the words she needed immediately stopped from reaching her tongue as her mind remarked on how well this 'fit' Pyrrha. It was remarkable, really, now that Ruby really took in the woman before her. The other's they'd met were familiar, but it was like meeting someone's close relative. You could see the resemblance, you could see how much they took from one another, and you could even mistake them for the original if you weren't paying attention; but you still knew, at your core, that it was a different person. While the details were more adult, Pyrrha was one of the few people they'd 'reunited' with that was mostly accurate to their simulated counterpart. She was exactly how Ruby imagined Pyrrha would be as an aged and hardworking mom, still striking a powerful look even at her weakest, still struggling under the weight of expectations, and still fearful of showing she was human.

Ruby was always weary of Pyrrha, not because she disliked Pyrrha, not because Pyrrha was in any way unpleasant, but because Pyrrha was so pleasant, so selfless, so caring. Because Pyrrha seemed to face problems Ruby could relate to but dominated them where Ruby struggled. It's why she was the first choice for Ozpin's mission while Ruby wasn't even considered, it's why she was Jaune's first choice for the favourite redhead while Ruby could only be noticed in the wake of her passing, it's why Ruby still wondered how much of their blunders would have been avoided if Pyrrha was there instead of Ruby.

And looking at this Pyrrha, Ruby couldn't help but feel that same shameful jealousy rise in her stomach as Pyrrha's fierce glare washed over her. The Pyrrha of the simulation deserved so much better, and so too did this version of her. "You have to know that's not true. Jaune obviously thinks the world of you."

"That's kind of you to say, Ruby, but-"

"That's just what kids are like!" Ruby blurted out without thinking, driven purely by the desperate desire to help Pyrrha this time, to let Pyrrha know all the things everyone should have told her back at Beacon. You're losing her, Rubes. She's looking at you like a loser. Think! Think! She racked her brain for any sensible thought to link to her opening blunder. An idea, a subject, a phrase, a memory- Yes, a memory! "Like, like, uh… When I was a kid, my sis was kind of the same." With her train of thought firmly back on track, Ruby found her voice growing more confident. "She had a mom before, well, my mom." Ruby paused. Summer Rose wasn't real, she told herself, and yet the almost dismissive phrasing burned her like poison on the tip of her tongue. "Our mom." She corrected herself, those words just feeling so damn right to say.

"Her old mom left, our dad stayed," Her arms waved manically in front of her to emphasise her next point "and he was the best dad ever!" And in an instant, Ruby deflated, her hand falling to grip her now limp arm. Her mom. Her dad. Her sister. She'd never see them again. At least, she'd never see the ones she knew. Did Audrey even have any siblings? Everyone else in the simulation existed here, so Audrey had to have somebody, right?

An audible click of the tongue acted as a raft in a sea of uneasy questions, keeping her anchored to her point. She sighed. "But my sister, she… She never stopped looking for her other mom." Her eyes flickered up to glance over Pyrrha, noting she had gained the woman's full attention, their gazes locked in a mutual sense of bittersweetness. "It's not that she thought less of our dad, she loved him to death, but he was already there. She didn't need to look for him, she didn't need to wonder how much he loved her. And when we're kids, we just assume…" It was only then that Ruby could feel how much her jaw ached, as if the weight of her words had become quite literal and took great effort to churn out.

"We just think…" Everything just froze in that moment, trapping her there, in the front seat of her mind, forced to face the sudden onslaught of nostalgia. Yang distracting little Ruby with meaningless conversations about motorbikes and weapons when they were wondering whether or not Mommy was coming home. Her Dad making up every excuse to let her sleep in his bed when she was scared, just to spare her the embarrassment of asking him herself. Her Mom always buying an extra cookie with her lunch because she knew Ruby kept swiping them. She never thought twice about them, not until they were thrown away. "We take what we have for granted because we think it'll just be there for the rest of our lives."

And she wasn't allowed to cry about it, because they weren't real. Reality had denied her even her mourning.

Pyrrha's eyes returned to Jaune, that thousand-yard stare that burrowed through every exploitable memory creeping into her gaze. "Funny, I thought like that when I first married Larry. We had so many plans, enough money to get us going and all the love in the world; our future was set." Her expression pulled back slightly, lips parted at unflattering angles, eyes drifting upwards in search of answers, her head losing all control and resting its full weight on her shoulders. There were no tears on the way, no spite left to throw, she was just lost. "I thought for sure that would be it for me, my life settled."

Once more, she sipped that non-existent tea cup, looking as if she were desperate to convince herself of its imaginary flavour. "Did… Did your sister ever find her mother?"

Ruby felt Pyrrha's eyes upon her once more, but this time there was no bitter heat scolding her skin, just a barely tangible breeze looking for any wet spots to cling onto. It wasn't comforting, but it did lessen the pressure Ruby has felt building in her stomach. "She did, but how it went? I'm not sure, that was so, so long ago now." Ever since she stepped out of that pod, everything that had come before had become so distant to her. Relatively, it had only been two or so weeks since she and Penny had gotten kicked out of a Mantle bar because Yang told Penny that bar fights 'build character'.

Huh. Ruby realized she didn't know how long it had been since they entered the real world. Her blinking became rapid as she tried to go over all that had transpired since that day, she could recall the brushstrokes quite well, but any attempt to nail down the specifics hit her with a mental flash that burned the back of her mind. She tried to focus on how long the group had been in the Merlot Corp rejuvenation room, the images coming to mind in the form of old pixilated television recordings, their conversations constantly rewinding, cutting out or outright repeating over and over again.

What day did we arrive again? She shook her head. What day is it now? Her eyes darted around the room, but no calendar, not even a clock was in view.

Wait, what does that matter? Suddenly, Pyrrha's eyes became so easy to focus on and Ruby forgot why she even cared about something as insignificant as the time. The story came back to her more naturally than anything else. "She didn't like to talk about it. I always thought I'd have time to wait, to let her tell me when she's comfortable."

Ruby felt it pushing and prodding at the boundaries of her skin, that pain, so raw and sudden, hit her hard with no warning. It was the one thing easy to focus on, easy to get swept up in. Yang wasn't here. She'd never be here again. She'd never crack a terrible pun again. It distracted Ruby so easily, she could get lost in it, get trapped by it. "I-I… I miss her. And my Dad too. I miss a lot of people actually."

Silence reigned for a good long time after that. Neither woman found enough strength to move a muscle, to avert their gazes, to focus on something else. They simply found themselves rooted to the spot; emotional statues frozen in a moment of dreary contemplation. There was nothing to push back against the mounting pressure, to Ruby, it was like phantom hands clambering over her flesh, crushing her skin together through sharp fingernails and forcing her blood to pump faster and faster, drowning her in it.

So fast her lungs couldn't keep up.

So fast her throat began to tighten.

So fast she could just imagine her heart being stretched to its limits under all that blood and bursting.

So fast that her body wouldn't be able to take it.

"Keep moving forward."

Ruby threw her upper half forward with a strained wheeze, her head ending up mere inches away from slamming into her bony knees. She found sweat pouring from her forehead in the form of a mini waterfall, she was drenched in the stuff. And now that she'd broken through the surface of that pressure-filled sea in her mind, the blistering heat had turned to an uncomfortable and sticky cold that clung to the new excess of wet splotches dotting her skin. "Sometimes… I realize I spend too much time looking back, hoping I'll see them again in my past." She could barely get the words out, her breath testing her now aching throat, but she pushed on. Something was telling her that she needed to say this, for her own sake. That if she didn't find something to use as a raft, this storm would take hold of her and drown her under the waves. "But if I only look to where I came from, back to everything and everyone I've passed by, how am I going to see what's up ahead until they're behind me too?"

"Keep moving forward, Ruby." The voice of her instincts wasn't her own. Not even close. "You won't get anywhere sitting still."

And just like that, the voice was gone. The dreadful clammy skin returned to being slightly chilled and itchy. Pyrrha rose from her seat, holding out a teacup she hadn't had before. The world started moving again, as if the whole experience had never happened.

That settles it, Ruby shook her head, I have officially lost it. Her instincts decided that this whole ordeal would be remedied by more sugar, practically snatching the teacup from Pyrrha's hand and piling cube after cube of sugar into the warm liquid within. That's all it was, she'd been neglecting her sweet tooth fix this entire trip and her body was going through withdrawals. That explained everything. She hoped.

Ruby consumed at least half of her cup in quick succession, with each sip a shade of colour returned to her features, letting out unbecoming moans and groans she'd certainly regret looking back on this conversation. It was only then that Pyrrha spoke once more. "I'm sorry, Ruby." The somewhat gleeful undertone to what should be a regretful statement caught Ruby off-guard. Her faded eyes flickered up from her brew to catch Pyrrha's face where a new gleam smoothed over what remained of Pyrrha's prior mask. It was as if Pyrrha was relieved to have something to apologise about. "I've been unfair to you."

"No, it's not a problem, really." Ruby shot back without missing a beat or pulling her lips away from her drink. If there was one thing the socially awkward had nailed down to an art form, it was the art of avoiding the awkwardness of accepting an apology. "This isn't exactly ideal. I'm just some stranger and this," One hand free, she cast it outwards with fingers wiggling with vigour, gesturing to the house, to Jaune, to everything that had gone wrong. "it's all none of my business. You… You have every right to… Y'know."

The coffee table shook accompanied by a loud, hard slap knocking against the air. Somehow, Pyrrha's newfound smile, one that looked so familiar, so accurate to the one Ruby knew, managed to make her suddenly slapping the table more endearing and energetic rather than threatening. "No, you're a guest in my house. I'm saying sorry, and you have to accept it."

With those fierce eyes, this time without any bitterness to dowse their flames, staring her down, Ruby's body had no choice but to throw up her arm in a panicked salute. "Uh, y-yes mam! Apology accepted."

"I shouldn't have unloaded that on you." Pyrrha's eyes pushed out slightly, her lip turning in on itself as if she had just tasted something particularly sour. "In a way, I was trying to hurt you, I think, and make you feel unwelcome." Several times, her fist clenched and unclenched, acting as the only outlet for the tension that built up within her with every word. "As shameful as it is to admit, I was jealous and wanted to knock you down a peg. You showed me something I had lost, and I wanted you to feel the envy and pain that put me through."

"Jealous?" Ruby couldn't help but break the thick tension with squealing laughter. Pyrrha, the invincible girl, the dream wife, the legendary champion, the focus of so much insecurity for Ruby over the past few years; that Pyrrha was jealous of her? It was ridiculous. Senseless. Absurd! It was clear as day to anyone who wasn't too polite to pay attention that Pyrrha was simply superior in every single way, Ruby couldn't hope to compare to Pyrrha, not in the eyes of the public, the eyes of her team or the eyes of Jaune. "Trust me, Pyrrha, you have nothing to be jealous of."

"Are you sure?" After a moment of stunned silence at Ruby's outburst, Pyrrha's lips softened into a warm smile. She raised her hand, pointing out the window to where Jaune now looked back at the two, clearly ignorant of their conversation as he waved enthusiastically at Ruby. "Do you know that I've never seen him smile like that since he first proposed?" Little Junior clung to Jaune's leg, Jaune's hang combing through the boy's hair. The two looked so natural in how their bodies curved to embrace one another. "Do you know he was only ever that tender on the good nights?"

Another prolonged quiet, this time to give Ruby time to let Pyrrha's words sink in. Pyrrha looked down into her lap, looking for something, anything, that could help her in that invisible space. "I should be happy, shouldn't I?" She didn't lose that smile, no matter how much doubt flickered in her eye, she wore that smile strong and determined. Because (as Jaune would say) Ruby made it hard not to feel like smiling even in the face of the worst. "Most of my memories of our marriage had him tired, panicking or on the verge of a breakdown." Years of history, of failed dates and stilted arguments, of love lost and words left unspoken, all passed through that one look in a manner of seconds. "It could be a trick, could be a front, could be temporary, but it should be so nice just to see him being the man I loved for at least a little while. Look at how happy Jaune is."

Fresh tears trickled down Pyrrha's chin, staining her smile, but not covering it. Ruby remained quiet, letting Pyrrha ride this out. "And yet, all I can think is 'Why?' Why now? Why not back when it matters? Why did I rarely get to see this side of him?"

Ruby shuffled closer to Pyrrha, reaching across to rest a hand on Pyrrha's knee. "People change, but they don't always make that change when you want them to." Her voice was smooth, strong, and far more confident than Ruby actually felt, hoping just an inkling of that energy flowed into Pyrrha. "Maybe it's just good that the change happened at all instead of never?"

"I can't help but think that it's my own fault. That… That…" Their gazes met. Though, it was more accurate to say that Pyrrha was caught under Ruby's gaze, those innocent, eager eyes rendering every stray temptation to change the subject or clam up powerless. Pyrrha took a breath and then pressed her own hand over Ruby's, gripping it like it was the only thing keeping her from falling any deeper. "Do you ever feel like you're the settlement? That you look at how someone you care about acts around others and wonder why they never show that side to you? That you're constantly comparing yourself to a person who's no longer there, but still manages to cast their shadow over you?"

There was no answer straight away, but Pyrrha could see the intense train of thought passing through Ruby in that moment. Eyes twitched, gazing into the vast well of painful memories and embarrassing insecurities, causing Ruby to grimace at the reminders. "Ruby?"

"I do." She finally answered. There was the instinctual need to look away, to cover her face, to hide any exposed emotion that could weaken her words. However, Ruby held strong, refusing the break her gaze from Pyrrha. "I… I have a lot of experience with that, actually." A sad smile appeared for only a flash, her lips immediately faltering in their spread the minute they faced resistance. "I mean, don't tell Ja-Larry, but I always kind of feel like I'm second rate." Ruby was so close to just laying it all out there, to tell Pyrrha all the many key details of how she faltered and how she can only look to her betters and ask why they're not taking her place. But she knew she had to be careful, and she knew telling Pyrrha about the simulation, about anything they saw in there, would only complicate things. Instead, she distracted those thoughts by incessantly tapping her free hand against the couch cushions to a directionless tune. "My old boyfriend's ex, the people who I know do my job way better than me… Hell, even my mom… Everyone likes to tell me how much I'm like her, and I know that's supposed to be a compliment, but it just, y'know, makes it sometimes feel like I'm just the diet her."

Both hands squeezed at the same time. "Did you ever get over it?"

"Nope." Ruby laughed. She didn't know if it was a genuine laugh or a sarcastic one, but she laughed. "But I've done a good job of hiding it at least?" Poor posture overtook her, pulling her legs up onto the couch and up against her chest. "It's kind of funny to think about, but sometimes I wonder if they feel the same about me."

Pyrrha sighed. "That's life, I guess, you're always left in the dark about what matters to you most."

"I'm sure it doesn't always have to be like that." The gaze broke, their connection, for a time, severed. Ruby finally looked away. "Pyrrha?"

"Yes?"

And then suddenly Ruby launched herself at Pyrrha, throwing her arms around the woman's shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug. "For what it's worth, I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong." There was so much Pyrrha needed to hear, but Ruby could only tell her what she could understand. "And I know I'm in no position to judge… Well, any of this, but I'm sure he thinks the same." Leaning back, Ruby made a sharp gesture with her head towards the boy. "My Dad was in the same place once, so I think I know a little about what you're going through. You've raised a good kid despite a bad situation, and that's gotta count for something, right?"

The first thing Ruby realised in the following minute was that Pyrrha's body went stiff the moment Ruby pounced on her. The second thing she realised was how cold Pyrrha's skin was. Like, ridiculously cold considering the circumstances. It was a warm day, a well-heated room and Pyrrha was stuck in at least two thick-looking layers. Ruby didn't remember her being this cold when their hands touched before.

And then suddenly Pyrrha was moving again, her hand softly patting Ruby on the head. And her skin was warm again. "I'll… Have to think on that." Before Ruby could continue dwelling on that odd detail – admittedly, a small one, but one that made something itch nonetheless – Pyrrha's hands fell down to clasp Ruby's cheeks, turning the girl's head and attention up to her now-beaming features. "You're good company, Ruby."

Overtaken by a flustered blush and at a loss for what to say, those distracting thoughts were easily chased away by Ruby's awkward fake stalling laughter. "I try! Heheh."

Somehow, the little laugh turned into a shared chuckle session as the two girls slid down in their respective seats, giggling with a sound any witness would mistake for somebody gargling stones. Pyrrha laughed because she, Ruby assumed, found something terribly funny. Ruby laughed because otherwise, it'd be weird. Eventually, Pyrrha calmed down, Ruby slowly following her example and resisting the urge to rub her now aching throat. Just as they were settled, Pyrrha let out a loud snort, her now casual and limp body language a far cry from the stiff and reserved poses she'd taken since they entered the house.

"Granted, anything's a step up from Larry's other 'friends'." Her eyes were no longer cold or frustrated, but slightly mischievous as she leaned forward, as if she were whispering a secret. Huh, Ruby thought, I must have really affected her. "Especially that bowler-hat fellow, never felt safe around him."

Yeah, I bet none of Larry's friends were- Wait… No. It couldn't be, could it? That one word was all it took, just a simple mention of a certain hat and Ruby's mind immediately saw a certain image in her mind. "Bowler-Hat?" She tried to keep her voice light, tried to keep her mind clear, but that suspicion, and a good gut instinct, kept her mind focused.

There was a question to ask, they'd come here specifically to get details on Larry's life after all, but now that Ruby and Pyrrha had made peace, it suddenly struck her how off-putting suddenly asking Pyrrha about the life she and Larry were trying to distance themselves from. Can't ask directly, but she's the one who brought it up in the first place! Come on, Rubes, think, think. How did Yang used to get Dad to spill info without letting him know she was asking? Ruby smiled that candy-laced smile and punched Pyrrha's shoulder in that affectionate way she'd seen Yang do when pretending something was hilarious, only judging by Pyrrha's immediate grimace, Ruby was a tad too 'affectionate' on that one. "Sounds like an old-fashioned creep. What, did he carry around a cane and suit too?"

Now, it was Ruby's turn to grimace. Seriously? That was supposed to be 'natural'? Why don't I just ask if he had a matching girlfriend with ice cream for hair while I'm at it!? Stupid, stupid, stu-

"Oh that's right, he did!" Pyrrha clapped her hands together, an astounding realisation consuming her eyes at the miraculous coincidence of Ruby's 'guess'. "Don't know why he needed it, he seemed to be able to walk just fine."

Genius, I'm an absolute genius. How'd you like those apples Camila from fourth grade!?

"And his hair just got everywhere. I'd keep finding red hairs in the strangest places, I swear."

And with that, Ruby was certainly. Really, it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise now that she thought about it. The man had been a prominent presence for the Beacon portion of their lives, it was only natural he'd be a notable guy in the real world. Honestly, Ruby had to admit that, compared to every other double they'd met at this point, he was at least someone she had no complicated or fearful feelings towards.

Above all else, it was a lead. And Ruby didn't doubt for one second that he was involved. If any criminal was going to be a part of a grand city-wide conspiracy, no matter the reality, it was going to be Roman Torchwick.