Ruby Rose
"Weiss... what's going on...?"
"Ah, Ruby. Excellent timing... what are you wearing?" Ruby looked down and was greeted by her pajamas, the soft wool clothing was one of the only gifts she had accepted from Yang over the years, and of course she was wearing her cloak.
What was more confusing was what she saw when she looked up however. Weiss Schnee in her workshop, but with company.
Ruby was often called a redhead, but it was quite literal in her case, the girl she was looking at however was more the standard kind. Orange hair that went to her shoulders, large green eyes that looked quite cute, and an overall get up that seemed rather childlike.
"I'm in pajamas... i was sleeping..." Ruby blushed a little as she looked to the side, being in front of Weiss in this state she was prepared for... anyone else...
"Salutations! I am Penny, its an honor to meet you Ruby Rose!" The girl... Penny, stepped forward and outstretched a hand, Ruby felt a bit nervous, but met Penny's hand with her own in greeting.
"H-hi..." The silence was quite awkward after that, and the only one in the room smiling was Penny.
Weiss cleared her throat.
"Penny is going to be your assistant. She's quite good at technical magics so she'll no doubt prove useful to-"
"Woah! Woah! Time out! Assistant??" Ruby stepped past Penny and approached Weiss, feeling a little angry.
"Yes that's what I just said Ruby." Weiss didn't match her anger or show much emotion at all, like it was already a settled matter.
"Weiss. I don't need an assistant."
"Ruby. Yesterday when I arrived, you hadn't eaten, bathed, or slept in a week. Penny is here to assist you in magic if you need it, but more importantly She's here to make sure you take care of yourself."
"So she's my babysitter??"
"Frankly? Yes." Weiss had crossed her arms at this point, fed up with Ruby's attitude.
Ruby joined her in the crossed arms, staring Weiss down. The two were locked in a battle of wills, and there was no way that Ruby was going to back-
A rather loud grumble sounded from Ruby's stomach, cutting through the tension in the air like butter. Ruby felt a bright brush grow across her face and started stammering for something to say, but didn't get the chance.
"Oh, I can cook something up right away friend!"
"Friend??" But Penny was already in the kitchen.
"I hope you like pancakes!" Ruby lost the ability to argue with Penny cooking for her after that. She simply sat down at a nearby table and sighed.
"How is she ok with this..."
"Penny isn't human as I'm sure you've guessed." Weiss joined her at the table, her voice quiet enough for Penny not to hear.
"Why are you whispering?" Weiss sighed.
"Penny is a homunculus... and a rather powerful one at that. She's here to be your caretaker, guard, and assistant if you need it."
"Weiss... I'm-"
"Don't you dare say fine Ruby Rose. Yesterday I was worried. Really worried. I had a talk with your sister and Blake after you passed out... they're really worried about you as well." Ruby folded her arms again.
"Of course they are..."
"Ruby..."
"Ok, ok... fine... i don't think I can fight this anyway... but for real...? The smell of those pancakes are doing a better job convincing me then you are." Ruby gave a small smile and Weiss returned it with her own genuine.
"Breakfast is served friends!" Penny plopped down two plates stacked with pancakes and Ruby's mouth watered.
"How did you make these so fast?"
"Cooking with fire magic is very efficient!"
"I wish I hasn't asked..." Weiss sighed and took a careful bite. Ruby could see past her tower as a good three of the top layers were already gone.
"I'm glad you like it friend!" Penny clapped her hands. "Let me know if you want any more!"
Penny seemed very... bright. Happy? Ruby couldn't place the exaclty feeling, but she seemed to give off an aura of childlike innocence, while also somehow feeling very adult and comforting. She was probably the perfect mix of Weiss in bossy mode and Weiss in caring mode. Yeah, that was it. Probably.
"Weiss? Is Penny under contract as well?"
"No."
"Buuut... you want her to be here? Watching me and my research?" Ruby tilted her head.
"Penny is-"
"Princess? If it's no trouble, I can answer that." Weiss nodded and gestured for Penny to continue. "Ruby, do you know why the creation of Homunculus is frowned upon?"
Ruby shrugged and Penny continued.
"Its because we naturally don't have souls. Which makes us very good at doing things that..." Penny frowned. "Things that people usually can't bring themselves to do..." She shook her head to get back on track.
"My father was able to make me a soul. He once called me his greatest achievement because of that... but... his superior's disagree. I am stronger then a normal Homunculus... but... Ruby? If you were to make a soul... a soul that you could choose the parts of... how would you make it?"
"Umm... well, I'd make them really nice?" Penny nodded.
"My father thought the same. He made me to be all parts good. He tried his hand at a pure soul. But as much as it pains me to say it... it was a mistake on his part. He succeeded... but..." Penny looked away and Weiss reached out and touched her shoulder comfortingly.
"Penny is unable to harm anyone. That includes betrayals, and betrayals of trust." Weiss finished the thought for Penny and Ruby nodded her head.
"Your father made your soul to be all good... but that left you unable to do the things people would've wanted you to do." Penny nodded and Ruby joined. "Ok, I get it then. Buuut... how are you supposed to protect me then? N-no offense! Its just one of the things Weiss said your here for..."
"Oh. Well-" Penny raised her hand and a small green bubble appeared above it. "-My souls unique arrangement crafted a very strong affinity for support magic. I may not be able to hurt anyone... but I can heal nearly any wound and I can keep enemies trapped until help arrives! So dont worry Ruby! I'm combat ready!" Penny struck a pose with both hands on her hips and her head pointed up with a smirk, or the closest thing to a smirk that Penny was capable of, and Ruby let out a happy laugh.
Weiss smiled as well but tried her best to contain it.
"An affinity for support magic is quite rare, its much more broad then an affinity for an element... speaking of which-" She turned to Ruby. "-I was fascinated that your sister had an affinity for two elements, that's quite rare." Ruby shook her head and Weiss tilted hers.
"Oh. Funnily enough Yangs actually a special case. Yang's natural affinity is water, but because she's a Hellhound she gained an affinity for fire. Its an unnatural hybrid affinity which is why the colours mixed in her eyes. A natural hybrid affinity will have two different coloured eyes. Anyway, Yang also has Beserker eyes, its a sort of curse thingy, basically it only comes out when shes angry but it drastically boosts the power of her fire affinity." Ruby finished explaining and blushed at the look Weiss was giving her. Her rants usually left people disinterested or pretending to play along... Weiss looked at her like every word mattered... like... she was listening to Ruby read her favourite book for her.
"So. What are the plans today friend?" Penny chirped happily as she took Ruby's empty plate over to the kitchen.
"O-oh umm... I'm going to keep researching. I might have three of the Phrases down, but that still means i have two to go." Weiss nodded along.
"You may keep working for today and most of tomorrow. But tommorow night, you'll join me for dinner at your sisters home." Weiss was sitting up all proper again.
"W-what?? B-but Weiss i-"
"No buts-" Penny giggled a little and Weiss rolled her eyes. "-you will come to dinner Ruby. That isn't a request."
"Weiss-"
"Need i remind you that you do work for me Ruby?"
"I... r-right..." Ruby hung her head and Weiss sighed.
"Ruby. Yes, you do need to do your research... but you need to be alive and well to be able to do that. Penny will handle keeping you alive, and I'm going to make sure that your well." Weiss reached over and grabbed Ruby's hand, giving her a soft smile as she stared into her eyes.
Ruby got lost in Weiss's eyes for a moment. The beautiful light blue was like a dancing light, Ruby knew the Schnee bloodline was rather consistent with its Ice Affinity, but that didn't make the light blue of this Schnee's eyes any less special to Ruby...
"Your so perfect..."
Ruby blinked in suprise, her own thoughts leaping out of no where and tackling her as she felt her heart skip a beat. Her feelings hadn't just crept on her, they had hit her like a speeding bolt from a ballista.
"Crap... I have a crush on Weiss..."
"Are you sure...?"
"Yes I'm sure."
"Like I can understand the dress but..."
"Ruby."
"Weiss." The girl in question sighed and leaned against the window.
"Ruby there just shoes..."
"There a torture device for my feet." Ruby twisted her foot around as if to make a point.
"Heels will not kill you."
"A good torture device dosent kill." She gave a smug smile at her genius logic.
"Clearly you don't know what happens after you get the info you want from the torture..." Weiss mumbled.
"W-what??"
"Oh we're here." Weiss stood and stepped out of the carriage.
"Can we get back to that torture thing??"
Ruby hurried after her and nearly fell on her face as she missed a step. Weiss caught her and sighed as she helped the girl back up on her feet.
"Are you ok?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"Y-yeah... just fine!" Ruby went to take another step and nearly kissed the path again. Weiss sighed and tugged Ruby to her, locking her arm around the redheads. "W-Weiss...??"
"I'll help you to the door, but from there your on your own. You just have to make it to the dining room." Weiss smiled and their quite slow walk to the property began.
Ruby wasnt sure what was worse, the agonisingly slow walk to the door... or the dinner with her sister and Blake that waited after. Penny was lucky... she didn't have to come.
Penny had proven to be a really good friend, and Weiss had kept her word, Penny didn't help with the research as Ruby wanted. Penny had been quite vigilant though. Ruby always had a glass of water within reach somehow, she had snacks brought to her every now and then, she was forced away from her research for proper meals, and Penny cut her off at ten o'clock for bed. That nearly started an argument... but it was really, really hard to get angry at someone that would just stand there and take all of it like a kicked puppy.
Weiss rung the doorbell and within seconds it opened. Blake looked much more comfortable then Ruby did, but Blake didn't have to wear a dress... or heels.
"Weiss, Ruby! Welcome. Yang's finishing up on dinner now." Blake stepped out and wrapped Ruby in a hug, before moving over and hugging Weiss as well. Weiss appeared shocked at first, but after Blake whispered something to her Weiss smiled and returned the hug.
The walk to the dining room was hell. Even worse then outside because Weiss wasn't helping her. The two girls in front of her were both trying not to snicker as Ruby struggled her way to there destination.
"I'm totally gonna get them both back for this..."
She wasn't sure how, but there was no doubt plenty of ways to prank a literal magic ninja and a princess... ok maybe she had to rethink her plan.
Blake opened the doors with a smile and met her children as they ran to welcome her. Celica looked as cute as ever in her little purple dress, and Sun... was glaring at Weiss? Blake whispered something into his ear and with a huff he looked away. Ruby struggled not to laugh at the display that reminded her so much of both his parents.
The kids hugged her next and Blake made sure she wasn't even a step away just in case. Ruby smiled as both children concentrated so hard on hugging as lightly as possible, she looked up at Weiss and the princess met her with a soft smile of her own.
They all sat while awaiting dinner and Yang somehow managed to carry out the whole meal at once. The conversation died as they watched with baited breath. Ruby was betting in her head how much Yang was going to drop, but Blake had to spoil the fun and rose to help her wife.
Ruby looked down at her hands in her lap as she thought about all of this. Her family... all here... she was... having a good time? She could spend time with them. It was ok... Weiss made it ok. She didn't have to worry about her research... that was the easy part of her life... this... this was the hard part.
She looked up at Weiss.
She finally had someone making the hard part a little easier.
Someone Else
A dirty building. Best way to describe it. Warehouses usually weren't the prettiest of places but you'd expect at least a little upkeep? The moonlight wasn't doing the decor any favors. It was just short of falling apart. No colour left in the roofing or walls, it was a miracle the doors even worked.
And yet they did. He knew they did, he'd been watching for nearly an hour as people came and went. Well, not just the back door obviously.
He blinked.
The front door was the same, a much bigger door meant for an obvious entry, though this one had less traffic and looked more rundown... a front.
He blinked.
The loading dock. Horses brought in carts with covered goods every now and then... of course, now and then meant every twenty minutes or so.
This was a waste of time... what was the point in waiting and watching criminal activity instead of just dealing with it?
Finally... something happened.
Well, something different anyway.
This cart had people, two people to be exact. A man with bright orange hair wearing a bowler hat and smoking a cigar, his companion a woman... girl? She was really short, but the main intrigue was her multicoloured hair... not a good sign.
He blinked.
A better view. This one was perched on the building itself and it got a much better view on the two people in the cart. Specifically the girls eyes... each was a different colour.
"Shit."
He could deal with a Hybrid Affinity, the problem was one of the eyes was pink... he didn't actually know what that meant, and he wasn't looking forward to finding out.
Not that he was here to fight anyway.
The door below him opened and a woman stepped out slowly.
He blinked.
The one he had just been looking through, its perch was in a tree, thank God these things had such good eyesight.
The woman had a bright red dress on, accentuated with orange lines... dust clothing? Maybe.
Her eyes were gold... she was the issue. He could take the one in the cart... but her... he could definitly win, the issue was that he didn't know how much power it would take to beat her... this wasnt the best place to just start letting out that kind of magic. This area was mostly abandoned, but mostly didn't mean completely. If he fought those girls at the same time... the amount of magic thrown all over the place would definitly get some innocent people killed.
"Guess you do know what your talking about sometimes Oz."
They were talking. These things had great eyesight but hearing not so much. Oh well... this was probably all he could do for now.
He closed his eyes and concentrated.
The flock started trickling into this one tree. The corvids moving in and perching, to an outside view it would just look like a group of birds settling into a tree for the night... in reality, the second they were hidden behind the leaves and branch's, they turned to a black smoke and settled back onto the one he was looking through. It's shape morphed and shifted, before changing back into his true body.
"Well... may as well while I'm here." He flexed his wrist and a piece of parchment appeared in his hand, his eyes focused down onto the three people having a chat... and slowly, there names appeared on the parchment.
Roman Torchwick
Cinder Fall
Neo
He scrunched his face. That second one had to be a fake name right? Well it was on the paper which meant it was real but...
"Neo...?" No last name? That was her full name as well? No... there had to be more to it. If she had fully accepted in her heart, mind, and soul that her name was indeed "Neo" then it would make sense... but...
"What kinda personality could do that..." He sighed and the list disappeared. Someone else would need to be brought in to clear this place out, ironically he was too strong to deal with this... though perhaps that said more about his ability to hold back.
"Or there ability to let loose... still only a theory..." But one he wasn't willing to test.
He closed his eyes once more and returned to the shape of the single crow. For now? He had a report to hand in... and maybe a bar to hit up before today was tommorow.
The wind on his feathers felt nice as he soared through the sky, a sobering experience as it always was, though he knew enough healing magic to sober himself up if he ever needed to be while drunk... isn't that a terrifying reality?
"Should probably check in on Ruby... Oz hasn't mentioned much about her progress in a while..."