Chapter 17: House of Joy

Hot water cascaded over Ruby as she stood in the shower in Weiss's penthouse. It was funny, but before Weiss had hired Ruby as her bodyguard, she'd been so broke that even the shower cap she was wearing would have been an unaffordable luxury for her. Being with Weiss had given her a taste of how the wealthy lived. However, it was always the little things she appreciated the most. Limousines and fancy clothes were nice she supposed, but in her opinion, they didn't have anything on Weiss's shower which had several shower heads that all sprayed at once. There was just something so wonderfully indulgent about it.

Ruby felt her muscles relax as the heat from the shower worked its way into them. She hadn't realized she'd been so tense. It was true that she'd been working hard to make sure Weiss didn't get assassinated, but she was supremely confident in her ability to keep Weiss safe. Especially now that May and Jaune were helping her out. No, what was really bothering Ruby was that something was obviously bothering Weiss, and she still didn't know what it was. Even worse, it seemed that Yang was dealing with some kind of ordeal as well. Not to mention Blake's ongoing tenure as High Leader which Ruby had managed to divine was extremely stressful for her. All of that combined was taxing Ruby's ability to stay optimistic, but she vowed to keep on doing her best. After all, if her friends couldn't rely on her for a cheerful smile, who could they rely on?

Ruby finally shut off the water. She stepped out of the shower and into the penthouse's master bathroom. She grabbed a towel, and after drying herself off, she reached for a red bathrobe that was hanging on a hook nearby. She put the robe on, tied it around her waist, and pulled off her shower cap. Then she deposited her towel and cap into a waiting laundry hamper. It was one of Weiss's many quirks that she didn't like towels to be used more than once before they were washed. Ruby thought that was a bit excessive, but she complied for Weiss's sake. Fortunately, Weiss's penthouse was well stocked with linens of every kind, so there wasn't any risk of running out in between laundry days.

Ruby took a moment to examine her hair in the bathroom mirror, but she quickly decided it was good enough. It wasn't like she and Weiss had any plans to go out. Just like Weiss had suggested, they'd left the office early today. Ruby was still having trouble believing it. They'd returned to the penthouse around noon, and Weiss had prepared an unnecessarily fancy lunch. Ruby hadn't complained, however.

It was still early in the afternoon, and Ruby wasn't sure what the rest of the day would hold. She'd be content to laze about with Weiss. In fact, she decided she needed to convince Weiss to do just that.

Ruby padded out of the bathroom. She made her way to the kitchen by way of the living room, expecting to run into Weiss along the way. However, Weiss was nowhere to be found. She'd obviously finished cleaning up from lunch, but there wasn't any sign of her other than that.

"Weiss?" Ruby called out.

There was no reply.

A little confused, Ruby started to search for Weiss. It didn't take her long to circle through the entire penthouse and end up back where she'd started. That was when she saw a light coming from the master bedroom's open door.

A smile crossed Ruby's face. Weiss had been the one who'd suggested she take a shower. It had been a good suggestion, but now with the benefit of hindsight, Ruby realized it had been a ploy on Weiss's part. She padded over to the bedroom door with an impish grin, ready to play along with whatever Weiss had planned. She rounded the corner and asked, "Weiss? What are you…up…to…?"

Ruby trailed off. The sight that greeted her eyes was not anything like what she'd been expecting. The shades were drawn over the bedroom's windows, and the lights were on but dimmed. Weiss was sitting on the bed with her legs folded neatly in front of her. She was wearing a lacy negligee, and her snow-white hair was hanging loose, draped over her chest. Ruby was always fascinated by how long Weiss's hair actually was when it was free from its usual bun.

"Hello, Ruby," Weiss said in the closest approximation of a come-hither voice that Ruby had ever heard her use.

"H-hi!" Ruby said. Her mouth suddenly felt dry.

Ruby was feeling a lot of things at the moment, but chief among them was a delighted surprise. For as sexy as Ruby found Weiss, even she had to admit that Weiss wasn't very good at being deliberately sexy. Ruby understood that Weiss still had a lot of internal hangups about her orientation. She'd hoped that them being together would help Weiss work through her feelings. However, Ruby hadn't dreamed she'd achieve these kinds of results. She was actually a bit overwhelmed. She didn't quite know what to do with Weiss presenting herself this way.

Weiss must not have known exactly what to do either because there was some uncertainty in her voice when she said, "Won't you come in?"

Ruby realized she was loitering in the bedroom's doorway. She walked in and closed the door behind her. There wasn't any reason for the door to be closed—she and Weiss were alone in the penthouse—but it was a force of habit for her at this point. She walked all the way to the side of the bed.

Weiss asked, "How was your shower."

"Hmm?" Ruby responded, barely even hearing the words. "Oh! It was…good."

"Um…" Weiss said. Then she let out a frustrated breath, and her mask of confidence broke. "I'm sorry. I don't know what comes next."

"I'm pretty sure I do," Ruby said.

"No, I…" Weiss said, blushing. "Well yes, but…."

"Hey. It's okay, Weiss," Ruby said, sensing how frustrated Weiss was getting. "You've already seduced me."

"But I want to do more than that!" Weiss said.

"You really don't need to," Ruby said.

"It's not a matter of needing to. I want to," Weiss said. "You've been so good to me."

Ruby smiled. She leaned forward and softly kissed Weiss's lips. A moment later she pulled back just a little and said, "Then let's be good to each other."

It was impossible to say exactly what time it was with the shades to the bedroom drawn, but Ruby could tell that the sun had set. She and Weiss were lying in bed, cuddling together so tightly it was difficult to say where one of them ended and the other began.

A comfortable silence had been filling the bedroom for quite a while now, but Ruby broke it by spontaneously saying, "I love you, Weiss."

A few seconds passed, and Ruby noticed Weiss hadn't given her the customary reply. She lifted her head and was surprised to see a look of deep concern on Weiss's face.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

Seemingly apropos of nothing, Weiss asked, "Ruby, do you remember when you told me it'd be wonderful if we could get married?"

"Of course I do," Ruby responded. "But I said not to worry about that."

"Is that still something you want?" Weiss asked.

"Yes?" Ruby answered, confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

Weiss actually looked surprised by Ruby's reply. She turned her head and looked directly at Ruby, asking, "Really?"

Ruby was dumbstruck now. She asked, "Weiss? What's this all about?"

Weiss sighed. She untangled herself from Ruby and scooted over to the side of the bed. She sat up and turned until her legs were hanging off the edge.

Eventually, Weiss said, "I've seen the way you look at Jaune. I'm not accusing you of anything, but…."

Weiss continued to talk, but the words washed right over Ruby. She was stunned. First of all, she was surprised Weiss had even noticed. Second of all, she was mystified that Weiss would care. Was this what had been bothering her? Ruby tried to piece together the clues as to why, and it slowly dawned on her that somehow Weiss had convinced herself that Jaune was her romantic rival.

Weiss continued to talk, but Ruby interrupted, "Weiss! Stop!"

Weiss did stop. She glanced over her shoulder.

"Yes, Jaune's nice to look at," Ruby said. "But I love you, Weiss! Don't ever think you're not who I want."

A tear formed in the corner of Weiss's eye, and it trickled down her cheek. She turned away from Ruby. She managed to hold her composure for a moment more, but then she buried her head in her hands and broke down crying.

"I'm…. I'm sorry!" Weiss said in between sobs. "I really thought…! I've been a terrible girlfriend!"

"No, Weiss!" Ruby said. She sat up and put her hand on Weiss's back. She rubbed in what she hoped was a soothing manner. "Whatever you think you did, it's fine!"

Weiss spun around and threw herself into Ruby's arms. Ruby hugged Weiss and rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her. While Ruby didn't like seeing Weiss in distress, in some ways she was touched by the situation. It was clear that Weiss had felt threatened by Jaune. Ruby knew that wasn't healthy or good, but she couldn't believe that Weiss would think she needed to worry about not being good enough for her. Ruby would have thought that if anything it was the other way around.

"I love you, Ruby!" Weiss said. She repeated it over and over again like a mantra. "I love you! I love you!"

A soft ding sounded, and although it hadn't been loud, it was enough to startle Ruby awake. She opened her eyes. She was still in bed, under the covers with Weiss, but judging by the light slipping in through the bedroom's shades, it was the next morning. Ruby glanced at the alarm clock on the nearby nightstand. It was still a few minutes before it was set to go off.

Ruby settled back down into bed, content to ignore whatever that sound had been. Today, or rather yesterday, had been quite the day emotionally speaking. Between learning Torchwick was trying to take another loved one away from her to having a wonderful afternoon with Weiss to learning about Weiss's irrational fears, she was feeling drained, although a good night's sleep had recharged her a little. And in a strange way, she was also happy. She had never doubted that Weiss loved her, but now she doubted it even less.

The ding sounded again, and this time Weiss stirred. She groggily threw off the covers and reached for the nightstand. She grabbed her scroll which had been lying on the nightstand next to the clock. Her expression grew concerned as she looked at whatever was displayed on it.

Ruby asked, "What is it?"

"A message from Rosalie telling me to check the weather report," Weiss said.

Ruby was confused, but she knew Rosalie wouldn't have sent such a strange message for no reason. She sat up and scooted over next to Weiss. She peered down at Weiss's scroll just as Weiss pulled up a screen that read, "Massive Early Winter Storms Predicted to Hit Northern Atlas".

Weiss tapped at her scroll a few times. A weather map popped up. Ruby was no meteorologist, but the forecast did not look good. There was already a huge storm front on the ground, and it was heading directly for Creek Basin Mine. It did not look like the kind of thing that canvas tents and campfires would be enough to protect against. This did not bode well for the mine's workers.

"Ruby," Weiss said. "Get yourself ready. We're going into work early today. There's a lot to do."

"Right," Ruby said. She didn't know what was about to happen, but she was ready to do anything she could to help Weiss.

Author's Note: Have any of you ever used a shower that has multiple shower heads? They're like the best thing ever. I want one so badly.

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