"Well, at least the breastplate helped." Blake mumbled from the other side of the dressing screen, where Yang had firmly sequestered her.
The Huntress looked closely at Ruby's bare chest, observing the purple welt that Neptune's drilling tendril had caused. She gently poked it, eliciting a hiss from her sister.
"Please don't do that," Ruby muttered through gritted teeth. "It really hurts."
Yang sighed, then stood straight once more. "Eh, it's just a bruise. You're lucky that Neptune seemed to be an alright guy, if a bit of a showboat."
"Actually, the showboating seemed to help, too," Blake remarked.
Ruby nodded solemnly. All true things— if Neptune hadn't been such an honorable fighter, she would've died when Alistair threw her. Judging from how he had actually fought, though, she estimated that she could beat him in a duel, especially now that she knew his magic. He seemed to be better suited to fighting with a partner, anyways, perhaps that was why he traveled with that blonde lad. There was one thing that had her stumped, though…
When he had her pinned, and was mere moments from knocking her unconscious, her restraints had suddenly folded. She didn't remember exerting against them. If anything, she had accepted her fate. Then it all just collapsed. Had Neptune suddenly run out of magic— was that how it worked? She distinctly remembered his Aura flaring after that happened, but she also lacked any kind of grip on the concept of magic. "Uh, Yang?"
The Huntress hummed in response.
"Can you do magic?" Ruby asked, voice quiet and cautious.
Yang gave her a raised eyebrow. "Of course I can."
Ruby's head whipped up to her sister, surprise obvious on her face. That was the exact opposite of what she'd been expecting. "Wh-huh? But—"
Yang just shrugged. "Look, Ruby, I don't know how it works. I do magic, you have a Semblance. That's just how things are."
"Wait, wait, wait, what magic do you do? I've never seen you do magic!" Ruby accused.
"Yeah, of course you haven't seen it, I've never needed to do it at home," Yang answered defensively, her hard features softening as she realized her tone. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean…"
Ruby watched her sister turn crestfallen for a few long moments, then look back up at her.
"I mainly use fire magic; I've really wanted to try branching out to other types of magic, but fire is the only thing I can feel without being able to read academic tomes, or taking any classes," Yang answered, holding her palm up to demonstrate.
Ruby immediately felt a surge of unbidden fear lance through her chest, spurred on by the bright yellow sparks that arced across Yang's hand. She scrambled back on instinct, her feet as frantic and uncoordinated as her exhausted brain was, causing her to trip on herself and fall into a panicked heap on her back.
"Woah, woah, sis! It's okay!" Yang claimed, dispelling the sparks from her palms as she held them up. She cautiously approached her sister, voice calm. "It's okay, Ruby, it's my fire, okay? I'm not going to hurt you, I swear."
Ruby panted, the panic in her eyes slowly fading as she returned to her feet. "I-I'm sorry, uh… I don't know what—"
Blake appeared at her side, laying a comforting hand on Ruby's bare shoulder. "It's okay, Red, it's not your fault."
Ruby looked up softly at the fay. Their eyes met. Ruby blushed.
"Hey! Get off my sister, you cur!" Yang broke the moment by appearing between her sister and Blake, and that was when Ruby realized a dire truth: she was still half-naked.
The smith squeaked, her shirtless form collapsing into a cloud of red petals that dashed back behind the dressing screen.
"Now look at what you did," she overheard Yang remark to her friend, voice stern but low.
"Hell did I do?" Blake retorted.
"Oh, you know."
"I can't help it if you two idiots are enchanted by my 'fay wiles'," she mocked.
Yang audibly stammered, then growled. An indignant stomp followed. After a couple moments, Yang joined her on the other side of the divider, her cheeks mirroring Ruby's own— glowing scarlet.
Yang plopped into a stool beside her now-clothed sister, then sighed. "Damn that fay," she mumbled.
Ruby nodded silently, shirt in her hands. Her mind was assailed by thoughts of other girls, like Blake, and Weiss… even Penny. Rapscallion or not, she was the first person who had ever flirted with her, and so brazenly, at that. Even if she didn't grasp it at the time, she did now. Much as she wanted to shut it away, the truth was out: Ruby liked girls. The thought made her shiver. She'd never be able to squeeze that truth back into its box. Desperate to think of anything less tormenting, she turned to her sister. "Do you think you could show me again? It just… surprised me."
Yang gave her a cautious look, then slowly nodded. Her palm raised up once more. Yang's brows furrowed, eyes twisting shut as she visibly exerted herself. The sparks returned, causing another instinctive spike of fear to grip Ruby's chest. This time, though, she managed to keep a grip of herself. It helped that the sparks were notably smaller than last time.
"Wow," Yang grunted. "I've never tried holding myself back this much."
Ruby looked up from the sparks, at her sister's straining face. She hadn't considered that restraining the magic could be more difficult than creating it. "Let it go," Ruby requested, breathing deep to brace herself.
Yang pried an eye open. "You sure?"
Ruby nodded, excitement building in tandem with her anxiety.
Yang nodded in return, then clenched her open hand into a tight fist. She focused on it for a moment, then suddenly opened her palm. A blaze of fire erupted straight up, burning a bright, sparkling gold. Yang visibly relaxed.
Ruby's anxiety fully gave way to excitement— this was nothing like Dove's violent burst, thiswas art! The flames radiated intense heat as the plume shrunk, refining itself into a sharp cone of fire. It shook the air with a familiar noise— something close to the bellows-stoked inferno of Ruby's own forge. "Wow," Ruby marveled.
"That is beautiful," came another voice, belonging to the long-eared fay that poked her head around the divider.
The blaze in Yang's hand suddenly faltered, stuttering before dying entirely. Ruby looked quizzically at her sister, but found the Huntress' eyes wide, bright blush on her face as she stared at Blake.
Ruby briefly panicked, hands flying to cover her chest before she realized she had actually put her shirt back on. She sighed, gaze turning back to Blake, expecting her to have disappeared.
But she hadn't. Her head remained craned around the dressing screen, eyes firmly on Yang. Ruby turned back to her sister, who was blushing even more intensely than before. "H-huh?" Yang stammered, making Ruby's eyebrows dart towards her hairline. "No, no it's just—"
"I've never seen flames like that," Blake stated, drawing Ruby's eye again. "And your control is remarkable, for an ignifer."
"I-ignifer?" Yang's voice had turned sheepish, and she now actively avoided Blake's gaze.
"Our word for flame sorcerers," Blake answered, gesturing to her pointed ears. "I think you call them pyromancers, or something like that."
Yang looked back up, meeting the fay's eyes with a spark of conviction in her own. "I like 'ignifer' better."
Ruby's gaze darted between the two, the tension growing until it pressed on her shoulders. Their eyes refused to waver from one another. Ruby suddenly felt alien in the moment, like she was intruding on something, and squirmed in her seat.
"So what's your magic?" Yang asked, her gaze holding firm.
Blake matched her stare. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"I would love to know," Yang retorted, her expression serious but slightly… flirty?
Blake stared, words clearly behind her lips. Before she could let them out, though, a light dusting of purple crossed her cheeks. She immediately retreated back around the divider.
Ruby watched the spot she'd left behind, then turned to her sister. Yang wore a satisfied grin, shoulders sagging as she exhaled. She seemed to be basking in her own glory.
"So…" Ruby drawled, getting her sister's attention once more. "Why do you get magic and I don't?"
Yang snapped out of her reverie. "I dunno," she answered with a shrug. "I'm not really an expert on that kind of thing."
"You're hardly an expert on any kind of thing," Blake quipped from across the room.
"Wow!" Yang loudly retorted, eyes bright with a challenging smile. "Uncalled for! Perhaps you have a better answer?"
Silence replied, followed by the soft thumping of footsteps. Rather than walk past it, Blake simply folded the divider back into itself, opening the room around the sisters once more. Blake stared down at them, completely unreadable. "I don't."
Ruby and Yang shared a look. They didn't believe her at all.
AN: ahaha... whati if i jsut.. did a ltitle bumbmleby... jk jkjk ahahaah... unless?