Chapter 3: Who's the Happiest of All?

Ruby still wondered if the life she was living was truly real. She was half convinced that she'd taken some nasty blow to the head at some point and was lying in a hospital bed, hallucinating and comatose. But so far she hadn't woken up to a harsher, bleaker reality. So she simply had to accept that she was the luckiest girl in the world.

Ruby was lounging on the couch in the living room of Weiss's downtown penthouse. She was wearing an oversized red t-shirt that came down to her knees and no pants of any kind. The living room was furnished in a postmodernist style as was the rest of Weiss's penthouse. It stood in stark contrast to the much more conservative décor in Weiss's office. The couch itself was placed to have a commanding view of a bank of windows that looked out onto the penthouse's terrace and to the city of Atlas beyond.

Technically speaking, Ruby was still renting her old, awful apartment situated in a much less nice part of the city. But everything she owned, save her worn-out, fourth-hand furniture, was in Weiss's penthouse now. For all intents and purposes, she lived there with Weiss. The only reason she was still on her old apartment's lease was because Weiss had insisted. Weiss had thought that if anyone discovered that Ruby didn't officially have a place to call her own, they would start asking some inconvenient questions.

Ruby shifted on the couch so she could rest her arms and chin on its back. The penthouse had an open floor plan. Its dining room and kitchen were all connected to the living room without any walls in between. Weiss was currently in the kitchen, finishing up the dishes. One of Ruby's favorite pastimes was gazing longingly at Weiss. It was a shame she couldn't indulge herself in public, but that just meant she had to get her fill whenever she and Weiss were in private.

Despite what an outsider might suspect, Weiss doing the dishes wasn't an unusual occurrence. She didn't have any domestic employees working at her penthouse. There were no cooks, cleaners, butlers, or maids. Not so long ago, Ruby wouldn't have known well enough to find their absence conspicuous, but as she'd learned more and more about high society, she'd learned just how truly bizarre that was. Weiss cooked her own food when she ate in, and she did her own cleaning. That was probably why Weiss's penthouse was on the smaller side. Although it was only small by luxury penthouse standards.

Ruby had come to understand that Weiss was an intensely private person. She pathologically hated other people invading and contaminating her space. That was probably why she didn't like it when people tried to shake her hand. Ruby suspected that if she knew anything about psychology she would've been worried about some kind of deep-seated trauma that had caused Weiss to be that way. But as it was, Ruby was simply honored to be allowed to exist inside of Weiss's bubble.

Ruby sighed wistfully as she watched Weiss load the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and pull off the rubber gloves she used to protect her dainty hands. When Ruby was on duty as Weiss's bodyguard, it was all about Weiss all the time. Ruby was there for whatever Weiss needed whenever she needed it. But once they came home, the dynamic completely reversed. Weiss would practically wait on Ruby hand and foot, and tonight was no exception. Weiss had made dinner. She had set and cleared the table. She had done everything.

Truth be told, Ruby wasn't always comfortable with the almost slavish devotion Weiss heaped on her at home. She'd tried to help out with the cleaning at first, but she'd fallen far short of Weiss's exacting standards. Ruby suspected that was another reason why Weiss didn't have cleaners; they wouldn't have done a good enough job. Ruby had tried to do the laundry once too under Weiss's careful supervision. She'd gotten about two minutes in before Weiss had intervened. Although in fairness to Weiss, Ruby did acknowledge that Weiss had a lot of very expensive clothing that required special care. Still, Ruby would've preferred to have been given more of a chance.

Some days Ruby felt like she was practically a kept woman, but that was one more thing that motivated her to work extra hard for Weiss when she was on the clock. That's why she'd learned to do Weiss's make up and learned how to decipher Weiss's meticulous schedule to help ensure things stayed on track. She wanted to do as much for Weiss as Weiss did for her. But in the end, even if she couldn't match Weiss beat for beat, she supposed there were worse things to be than the pampered not-quite wife of someone as wonderful and beautiful as Weiss Schnee.

A giddy smile crossed Ruby's face. She was almost like Weiss's wife, she realized. The thought had never occurred to her. Now she really, really didn't believe her life was real. People like her didn't end up in committed, loving relationships with people like Weiss. Ruby practically felt delirious with joy imagining her and Weiss growing even closer together as the years rolled on.

"Uh…Ruby?" Weiss asked.

Ruby blinked in surprise. She suddenly realized she'd slipped into a daydream and had stopped paying attention to what was happening around her. Weiss was standing right there in front of her. Only the back of the couch and a few feet of air were separating them now. Weiss was obviously done cleaning up.

Ruby had slowly been warming Weiss to the simple pleasure of dressing down at home. Even Weiss's "casual" attire had used to look like she expected reporters to materialize out of thin air at any moment and demand an interview. But right now all Weiss had on was a white t-shirt and black leggings, although they weren't the kind that could be found in your everyday department store. Weiss still did have her standards. And while Weiss's clothes were a far cry from elegant evening wear or sexy lingerie, Ruby still thought Weiss looked amazingly attractive in them.

Weiss waved her hand in front of Ruby's eyes, saying, "Ruby? Are you alright?"

Ruby giggled. She lifted her head off the back of the couch only to rest it in her hands. She said, "I'm more than alright, Wife."

Weiss's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. She stammered, "W-wife?!"

"I know. I know. Not really," Ruby said. "But maybe someday."

"Ruby…" Weiss said. "I've explained this to you."

"And I understand," Ruby lied. She didn't understand at all, but she also didn't doubt that Weiss must know what she was talking about. "But wouldn't it be nice?"

"Of course! It would be…. It would be wonderful," Weiss said. "But it won't happen, Ruby. It can't. Not because I don't want it to. Because it can't."

Ruby was starting to regret saying anything. This was clearly upsetting Weiss. She said, "I know, Weiss! I was just…. Never mind. It was just a silly joke."

"It wasn't silly," Weiss muttered. She turned away.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked. She lifted her head out of her hands.

When Weiss didn't respond, Ruby more firmly said, "Weiss!"

Weiss looked at Ruby again.

Ruby gave Weiss her sweetest smile and said, "I love you."

"I love you too, Ruby," Weiss said.

"Good. Now get over here," Ruby said, patting the couch cushion next to her. "You need a snuggle."

Weiss answered with a smile of her own. She started walking around the couch to join Ruby. She was, of course, far too dignified to vault over the back.

Later that evening, Ruby and Weiss were still on the couch in the living room. Ruby was leaning against Weiss, and they were cuddling so closely together that Ruby was practically sitting in Weiss's lap. They were each holding onto one side of a book, reading it together. It was something they did often. Tonight's book had been Ruby's choice, although they did take turns picking. The book was about two young huntresses living in Vale, and one of them was cursed to turn into a beowolf whenever the moon was in its mended phase. It was painfully obvious that they were in love with each other, although neither one of them had admitted it yet. But Ruby knew it was only a matter of time.

Ruby was a faster reader than Weiss, so she always let Weiss turn the pages. She was currently waiting for Weiss, but the seconds slipped by and quietly turned into minutes.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm? Oh," Weiss said. She hastily flipped the next page over. "Sorry."

Ruby sighed. She let go of her side of the book. She'd already suspected that Weiss hadn't really been into it tonight.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Ruby said.

"I'm fine," Weiss reassured her.

"Are you still worried about what Winter said?" Ruby asked. It had been a few days since Winter's unexpected visit. But Ruby could tell that Winter's words had been weighing heavily on Weiss.

"Yes, but that's not what's bothering me," Weiss said.

Ruby shifted so she could look directly at Weiss and asked, "Then what is bothering you?"

Weiss grimaced, obviously realizing she'd fallen into a verbal trap that she'd baited herself. She set the book aside and cast her gaze down.

Ruby said, "If you're not ready to talk about it—"

"No!" Weiss interrupted. Her eyes popped back up and met Ruby's. "No, I…."

Ruby sat there silently. She knew that when Weiss got like this trying to drag the words out of her wouldn't help. She'd just have to wait. It was annoying, but that was just the way Weiss was.

Eventually, Weiss said, "Ruby, don't you think you deserve to be with someone you can marry?"

Ruby suddenly realized what this was all about. Now she really did regret what she'd said earlier. She snapped back, "No!"

"No?" Weiss echoed, sounding shocked.

"I don't want to be with someone I can marry! I want to be with you!" Ruby said. She'd sounded harsher than she'd intended, but old anxieties were welling up in her now. Until she'd met Weiss and later Yang, everyone she'd ever loved had vanished from her life forever. She wasn't about to let the same thing happen again.

"But…" Weiss said.

Ruby got up onto her knees. She put both her hands on Weiss's cheeks and drew her into a kiss. She felt Weiss hesitate, but it didn't take long before Weiss was kissing her back.

Eventually, Ruby's lips separated from Weiss's. She saw tears in the corners of Weiss's eyes, so she reached out and dried them. Then she said, "Please don't worry about my dumb joke. I don't need a ceremony or some piece of paper to tell me how I feel about you. I know how I feel about you. And I know how you feel about me. Okay?"

"Okay," Weiss said.

Ruby sat back down and leaned against Weiss.

"Do you want to pick up where we left off?" Weiss said, putting her hand on the book.

"No. I just want to be close to you tonight," Ruby said.

Weiss's hand slid off the book, and her arms curled around Ruby as she hugged her. She softly said, "I'd like that too."

Ruby closed her eyes. She was more upset about what had just happened than she cared to admit. So she concentrated on the sound of Weiss's breathing and the rise and fall of her chest. Almost involuntarily, she whispered, "Please don't leave me, Weiss."

Ruby heard Weiss's tiny gasp of alarm. Weiss said, "I'm not going to leave you! Why would—?"

Weiss cut herself off, obviously realizing why Ruby might be concerned about that at the moment. She said, "I'm not going to leave you, Ruby. You'd need an army to drag me away."

"Promise?" Ruby asked, still not opening her eyes.

"I promise," Weiss said.

"Good," Ruby said.

The minutes ticked by, and Ruby began to calm down. But the peace of the moment was interrupted by the sound of Ruby's scroll dinging, alerting her that she had a new message.

Ruby did her best to ignore the obnoxious sound, but then her scroll dinged again. Then it dinged a third time.

Ruby let out a frustrated grunt, which made Weiss quietly laugh.

Weiss said, "It's probably your sister. You know she won't stop until you answer."

"Mmmmmm," Ruby said, annoyed. She finally opened her eyes.

Ruby's scroll was sitting on the nearby coffee table. Ruby reluctantly pulled out of Weiss's arms and snatched up her scroll. She opened it and looked at the messages on the screen.

Sparrow:
Hey sis! Guess where we are
Hello? You there?
Helllllloooooo

"Sparrow" was the name Yang was listed under on Ruby's scroll. It was a little inside joke from their first meeting. And as far as first meetings went, it was probably Ruby's most successful. Neither she nor Yang had known they were sisters at the time, but they'd immediately started chatting like they were old friends. At least until circumstances had forced them to fight each other.

Ruby started tapping at her scroll's screen.

Me:
I dont know where r u?

Weiss was watching over Ruby's shoulder. She said, "I hope she's not about to tell us she's right outside."

"Yang knows better than to just show up like that," Ruby said. "Again."

Weiss gave Ruby a skeptical look.

"Blake knows to keep Yang from just showing up like that again," Ruby corrected.

Ruby's scroll dinged again.

Sparrow:
Were in atlas in the warehouse district

Weiss asked, "What's your sister doing there? Do you think she's been taking mercenary work on the side?"

"Maybe we'd better find out," Ruby said. She suddenly felt a little concerned, and she wasn't sure why.

Me:
What r u doing there?

Sparrow:
Blakes got a thing going down. But we should hang tomorrow since were here

Weiss asked, "A thing? In the warehouse district? That can't be good."

Ruby agreed. But before she could tap out a reply, she received one more message.

Sparrow:
Oops. Got to go! Talk later!

Ruby frowned.

Me:
Yang? Whats going on?

Ruby waited. When Yang didn't respond she tried again.

Me:
Yang?

Again, there was no reply.

Ruby stood and started pacing back and forth in front of the couch. She honestly didn't know why she was so worried. Maybe she was still feeling emotionally vulnerable from her little argument with Weiss a few minutes ago. But she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Weiss tried to reassure Ruby. "It's Blake and your sister after all."

"I know, but…" Ruby said.

"But you want to go find them," Weiss finished for Ruby.

"It's probably nothing," Ruby said. "And it's late. And…."

Weiss stood. She said, "Ruby, get dressed."

"What?" Ruby asked, not fully understanding. She stopped pacing.

"Get dressed," Weiss repeated. "We're going to go find them."

Author's Note: This chapter wasn't really meant to be steamy, but I found myself getting a little hot under the collar at some parts of it. I'm not sure what to think of that. I guess my kink is wildly unequal yet somehow balanced power dynamics? Do not attempt? Professional driver on a closed course?

As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.