The Dust shop was barren of people, for the most part. It'd been the only timely option after buying new clothes, so Ruby had to squeeze her eyes shut as they passed the glass front. It was emblazoned with a logo she really didn't want to think about.
Yang nudged her when they were past the entrance. Ruby had gotten lost in her thoughts— not the thoughts, thankfully— so she jumped a little before responding. "Huh? What's up?"
Yang strained to make the sign for 'getting?' Her arms were quite laden with both of their shopping bags, so it was funny to watch her have a tiny struggle.
"Fire and grav, just a canister of each," Ruby responded. She looked up, reading over the many hanging signs that designated the contents of each aisle. Gravity and fire were, for some reason, on opposite sides of the store. "Okay, you go grab the fire, I'll get the grav."
Yang moved all her bags to her left arm, pulling out her tablet to prop it against her elbow as she typed with her dominant hand, then flipped it to Ruby: 'typecasting much?'
Ruby rolled her eyes. "I can get the fire."
Yang waved her off with a joking smile, typing, 'ill grab it u gonna b ok?'
"I'm an adult, Yang. I can grab some Dust on my own."
The brawler stared, lilac eyes intensely dubious.
"I'm fine, seriously," Ruby promised, "honestly, all that stuff… it's nice to have it off my chest, I guess. I'm not, like, okay, but I could use a few seconds to myself right now."
Yang stared deep into her silver eye, searching for any hint of her infamous tendencies for deflection. After a while, her intense gaze softened, and she gave her sister a genuine, if small smile. Yang pocketed her tablet, fondly patted Ruby on the shoulder, and departed on her quest.
Ruby waited for her to disappear around one of the aisles before breathing a deep, deep sigh.
That was close.
It should have been nice to get those things off her chest. She should feel good hanging out with her sister, but… she didn't. She felt wrong. The positive moments only lasted as long as she could wholly focus on them, and now she was stuck with a familiar hollow feeling. Her legs carried her to the gravity Dust aisle. She barely felt her own steps against the linoleum.
She absently noted how desolate the store was. Only five or six people meandered through the entire building, not counting the staff. And it wasn't just the lack of people— the product on display was also extremely sparse. Where once the gravity aisle would be packed with floating toys andgimmickappliances, those items had disappeared from the shelves, leaving nothing more than empty, skeletal displays. Thankfully, at the end of the aisle, the dispensers were full. She approached them.
Ruby stared at the price tag for a long time, her mouth slowly pulling into a deep scowl. She'd never paid much attention to the price of Dust— Beacon had a generous credit system for the procurement of such essential supplies— but she was sure that thiswasn't right. Ten thousand Lien for a single canister? She squinted at the tag, as if it would change under intense scrutiny.
She felt her scroll buzz in her pocket, and quickly extracted it to read the message. It was from Yang— a picture of the dispenser station for fire Dust, accompanied by a text that said 'uhhhh, wtf'. Ruby looked down to the price tag in the picture, and nearly dropped her scroll.
'30000? For *fire*? wtf?' Ruby rapidly texted.
'idk dude shits fucked. how bad do you need this?' Yang replied.
Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. 'idk… gimme a sec', she answered, 'beans. this sucks'.
'could still get it', Yang sent. 'dads kinda rich'.
Ruby responded with a dubious emoticon, along with, 'he's not rich'.
'bullshit', Yang replied, 'dude the house is fkn huge and on a bigass plot. property tax has gotta be a bitch'.
Ruby pursed her lips, typing, 'doesnt mean he's *rich*'.
Yang sent a doubtful emoji of her own. 'bro hes a pro fkn hintsman and he hasnt worked in over a year, mom and him prly have a shitton saved'.
'Bold assumption, dear sister.' With a period and everything. That should show her conviction.
'hey dont txt me like the fkn ice princess just cuz im right', the text appeared on Ruby's screen like the epitaph on a headstone.
Ruby stared at the word.
'fuck im so sorry'.
Princess. It had been a while since anyone called her that.
'u ok?'
Of course she wasn't. How could she be, especially when her eye was throbbing so hard?
Ruby lied with a quick 'im good' text before forcefully shoving her Scroll back into her pocket. She rushed to the dispenser and slammed an empty can into the port, focusing on each falling grain as she slowly pulled the handle down. She needed to distract herself, to focus on anything but—
"Could you show an ounce of consideration, please? Or better yet, haste?"
Ruby looked up from the canister in her hands. Weiss stared impatiently, tapping her foot as she gestured to the glowing screen of her Scroll. Ruby read the numbers displayed: 11:21 AM.
The vibration in her throat felt distant and empty, like her words were passing through someone else's lips. "We'll be fine," her voice insisted, lilting and carefree. "We've got plenty of time before the Bullhead leaves."
Ruby watched Weiss bristle through the windows of her own eyes. She desperately wanted to reach out and clutch her partner, but the body she was in had plans of its own, forcing her to watch as Weiss placed a hand on her hip and cocked it mockingly. "Oh, we do? And what if the tram doesn't show up perfectly on time? And what if the transport is full? Or— Dust forbid— we run into a bakery on the way and you waste precious time dragging me in and forcing me to sit through your dunderheaded pastry fantasies?"
Ruby's eyes rolled, a feeling that was genuinely sickening when it was done against her own will. "You said that on our last mission, but we still made it on time!"
Weiss let out a sharp cackle. "Oh, that's right. How could I forget? After all, you did teleport us on top of a moving train. Because, you know, it was full! Just like ours will be if you don't hurry up!"
A dismissive puff of air pushed its way out of Ruby's lungs as she returned to the dispenser, slotting another empty canister into its receptacle. She pulled the handle slowly, filling the empty metal tube with sparkling orange dust. "Look, you're the one who told me to be more careful with Dust."
"Only because you detonated an exposed crystal!" Weiss jabbed a furious finger towards the gradually filling canister. "Does that look exposed to you?"
"Jeez, princess," Ruby mumbled under her breath, making the mind inside her slam against the bars of its captivity. She wanted to rip out of her skin and strangle her idiot self. "Just chill. We've got, like, an hour."
Weiss huffed and stomped up to her partner, shoving her Scroll in Ruby's face. "We do not have 'like, an hour' we have thirty-nine minutes! Thirty-nine minutes before the Bullhead departs and takes the rest of our team, alone, to the Frontier! That means we have less than fifteenminutes to get to the station, beg for transport tickets, and pray that we make it to Beacon before it leaves!"
"Yeah, fifteen minutes, which is basically twenty, which is close enough to thirty!" Ruby felt her mouth gleefully respond, which only increased her internal desire to throttle herself. "So basically an hour!"
Weiss' jaw hung ajar, in awe of her partner's pure, unadulterated stupidity. "Does the 'D' in ADHD stand for 'dumbass'? Or are you genuinely just an idiot?"
Okay, that was objectively hilarious, but the Ruby she was in decided to take offense. "I'm not an idiot! We're gonna be fine, see?" She lifted the finally-full canister of Dust. "That's it!"
Weiss scowled and turned on a heel, shoving her scroll back in its pocket. She felt her own eyes pan downwards as the heiress strode towards the register, and it felt so wrong to be forced to leer at her partner. She'd jam glass into both of her eyes if it meant she'd stop the creepy staring and just confess to the girl. If she'd done that, she never would have cut—
Ruby fell into herself again, but she still wasn't freed from her confinement. She was aboard the tram, backpack in her lap as Weiss stared out the window beside her. The brain she was in was abuzz with old thoughts and feelings, though they merely pushed on her captive consciousness like distant waves against a rocky shore.
Her head turned, attention grabbed by a sudden bout of squirming from Weiss. She watched the girl form a fist against her chin, pressing her nails against her palm before she released it. Weiss huffed, catching Ruby's gaze with a sidelong glare.
"Stop staring at me," she quietly commanded.
Ruby immediately turned her eyes towards her backpack, flushing red. "S-sorry."
There was a short silence, filled by the quiet rolling of the tram's wheels, until it was broken by Weiss' sigh. "I'm… sorry. For what I said. It was unnecessarily rude."
Ruby scoffed. "I'm not mad or anything, it was pretty funny in hindsight."
Weiss' gaze turned back to the window. "Making fun of disorders isn't funny."
"You're my partner, you get a pass."
Icy blue eyes finally turned towards her, affixing Ruby with a suspicious glare. "I'm… still not going to do it again."
"You should, if I weren't being a butt I would've been dying,'' Ruby turned wistfully to the seat in front of her, thrusting out splayed hands as if to make a grand announcement. "Ruby Rose: attention-deficit/hyperactive dumbass!"
Weiss snorted, then hid her face behind her hands as her shoulders shook with muffled laughter and loud, uncontrollable snorts. Ruby stared, transfixed as the heiress' face bloomed bright red, all the way to her neck.
"Oh my sweet Dust, Weiss, are you sno—"
One of Weiss' hands flew from her scarlet face and feebly batted at Ruby. "Sh-shut up—" a huge snort took her, forcing her hand to cover her continued mirth. "I do not—" another snort, more muffled laughter. "Shut up!"
Ruby just stared, her mouth agape at the new information the universe had so generously gifted her. Her face cracked with a huge smile, and every eye in the tram turned towards her as she began loudly cackling with her partner. Warm joy fluttered in her lungs, even as every laugh wrung them dry. It felt like ages before they finally recovered, and when they did, she found that her doubling-over had inadvertently scooted her leg slightly against Weiss', who was busy wiping tear tracks from her scarlet face.
Weiss leaned back against her seat and breathed deeply, finally in control of her own lungs again. She blinked hard and let out a deep sigh. "You're an absolute dolt."
Ruby beamed, and lightly bumped her with her shoulder. "You wouldn't have it any other way!"
Weiss rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. That didn't stop Ruby from seeing her tiny smile. "Screw you," the heiress quietly mumbled. "If you tell your sister, or anyone, I'll stab you."
Ruby's smile was unfaltering, even as silence returned. She turned her gaze back to the backpack. She knew her cheeks would regret it, but the smile didn't fade for the whole ride— how could it? She never budged from her spot, and Weiss seemed content to maintain their small physical contact. For that, Ruby felt like she was on top of the world. Even as the soul inside of her wept.
"Stop, please," she begged, slamming against the bars of memory. "Just let me get this Dust, let me do one thing."
That mission… the Frontier was beautiful.
"Just one thing, please!"
That had been the first time Weiss let her hold her hand.
"Shut up, shut up!"
It was funny how easily Weiss had believed that Ruby, a girl who essentially fought nightmare monsters for a living, was afraid of the dark.
"Stop! Just stop, let me out!"
Or maybe Weiss just liked her too.
"No, no, no!"
They even shared a blanket during the night watch.
"Please…"
It got really cold that night.
"Please…"
Yang found her sister writhing and twitching on the tile floor of the dust shop, her eye flickering silver and nearly bugging out of her skull. Even the empty lid had pried itself wide open, displaying the red socket for all to see. And many did see; the few patrons and employees of the store packed the narrow aisle just to gawk at the seizing girl.
"Ge—" Yang grit her teeth as her throat rebelled against her attempted cry, eliciting a pained grunt that failed to draw the crowd's attention away from her sister. Furious, Yang began forcing her way to Ruby, ripping people away by their collars until they finally made way for her. She kneeled beside her writhing sister.
Dread and shame washed over her. She had no idea what to do. Part of her knew not to move the victim of a seizure, but every other part was screaming to get Ruby away from these prying eyes. She was stuck, caught between potentially dangerous action and torturous inaction, and every second in front of this dumbstruck gaggle stoked the embers of her rage.
"Uh, m-ma'am?" An employee dared speak, putting a single half-step past the circle everyone had formed around Ruby. "Do you want me to call for help? I can—"
A pair of heavy footfalls heralded another spectator, a hulking man who angrily ripped the employee back by their shoulder. He stomped past the circle and loomed over the girls. "Get the hell out of my store this instant! You're scaring my customers!"
Yang turned up at him with genuine shock, but that only lasted a moment before an inferno lit her soul. As a last-ditch effort, she managed to lift her hands high and sign, 'Get help or go away! Leave us alone!'
"Oh, so you're deaf," the manager sneered. "Then how about this?"
Yang watched his hands rise, huge fingers slowly forming the words, 'Get out of my store', as if he was signing to a child.
Fuck it, she tried. Whatever came next wasn't her fault.
'Well?' The manager expertly signed. 'Are you stupid, too?'
Yang carefully stepped around her sister and met the man's eyes, his fingers moving as he began to form another demand. He didn't get the chance, though, since Yang had taken the chance to smash his jaw against her bare fist. He immediately toppled to the floor, blood and drool leaking from his open mouth. Yang turned to the spectators and desperately signed, 'Help! Get help! Please!'
They all stared blankly at her hands, frozen with shock at the girl who'd casually floored the giant man. Of course. She huffed and pulled out her tablet, typed, then displayed a message in the largest, boldest typeface the program allowed: 'COULD SOMEBODY GET SOME FUCKING HELP PLEASE?'
Every onlooker read the message, looked to the nearest person at their side, then scattered in different directions. None of the patrons even got their scrolls out, leaving only the first employee remaining with the girls. He started when Yang's crimson eyes found him, but he at least had the balls to take out his Scroll and call for help. She watched him duck away from her glare, though she could hear him recounting the event to the operator.
Yang turned back to her sister, but all she found was one fading petal.
Ruby pressed herself against the wall of the alley, sliding down the bricks as she shakily extracted her small, leather-bound journal. She pulled the cover over, flipping past her previous weeks' entries to find a fresh page. Her furiously trembling hand made her scrawl even worse, but legibility wasn't the point— consistency was. Recording the visions was important. Understanding the ability was important. Consistency equals stability. Consistency equals stability. "Consistency equals stability, c-consistency equals stability, c-cons-consistency equals st-st-stability."
Her forceful attempts at self-control only grew more feeble with every repetition of the mantra, but she didn't stop writing. Not even as tears hit the pages, blurring her inked letters:
'Oct. 1, PF1114, approx. 1:10PM-1:20PM:
Type: First-person vivid memory (alt.)
Inciting Event: Use of a word for the foremost female heir to a royal family
Content: Prolonged flashback vision featuring _, a relived memory in which we were prepping for a Frontier mission. Perspective was my own, but like my mind was trapped inside the old me, unable to act or speak.
Physical effect: likely public collapse and seizure.'
How many people just saw her have a total breakdown— a literal seizure— in the middle of a store? How many people had she known that saw that? What did they think of her now? Did they think she was some kind of freak?
It wouldn't be wrong to say that. She was a freak. A failure and a freak. She couldn't even get the damn Dust.
Sobs choked her as she folded the tiny notebook shut, letting it fall to the dingy concrete instead of trying to stuff it in her pocket. Pressing her knees into her chest, she pressed her head down hard as she cried into her own lap, her nails digging into the back of her neck as she sought some grounding feeling.
When someone nudged her, she couldn't suppress her girlish yelp.
'Sorry,' signed Yang. It looked like she'd taken Ruby's shopping bags with her, along with two extras. 'Are you okay?'
'I'm sorry,' Ruby signed in response; she didn't trust her voice.
Yang shook her head, signing a quick 'not your fault' before handing the girl's journal back over. When Ruby didn't get up on her own, Yang dropped their bags to pull the girl to her feet.
"I'm sorry," Ruby croaked, "I couldn't even get the Dust… I… I can't—"
Yang waved her hands frantically, interrupting her. She threw her sister a smirk as she giddily jaunted to their bags, opening one to reveal that it contained the Dust they'd sought.
"Wha— how? How did you buy them? They must've kicked you out!"
Yang shrugged, but her nonchalance did nothing to hide her huge smirk. 'I took them.'
"That's— that's illegal! You stole!"
The brawler smiled and nodded enthusiastically, singing, 'I did!'
Ruby opened her mouth to prepare another chastisement, then realized it was futile. She rubbed her eye and sighed. "Okay… I guess. Doesn't matter."
Yang's smile dropped a little, but the hanging premonition of an awkward silence never came to be— Yang got Ruby's attention with a backhand pat to the shoulder, then tantalizingly signed the word 'food' towards her mouth.
Ruby's eye widened a little. "Y-you still— after that?"
Yang shrugged, signing, 'Of course. Time together is good. I'll take what I can.'
The dark clouds over Ruby's face parted just a little, letting free the slightest glimmer of light from her tiny smile. "Okay…yeah. Food sounds nice."
