The entire club was still.

Most of the people within had stopped what they were doing, watching the club's two most famous (or infamous, depending on who you asked) bodyguards staring each other down. Most of them felt sorry for whoever the girl in the middle was. The twins might not fight often, but when they did, you did not want to be anywhere near them.

Ruby, meanwhile, gently placed a hand on each of their shoulders. She gave a bright, nervous smile at the two as she gulped. "Uh…you two okay? Not gonna rip each other's heads off if I take a step back? Please answer—you're starting to scare me."

Melanie turned to her, glaring for a moment before meeting Ruby's eyes. Suddenly hers widened a bit, the anger fleeing from her expression, replaced instead with a strange nostalgia. Her eyes flicked between Miltia and Ruby before stepping out of Ruby's grasp, stomping off toward the back room Yang had disappeared into.

Miltia sat back down, staring at the counter with a scowl on her face as Ruby took a seat next to her. "Uh…do you want to—?"

"No."

Ruby nodded a few times, sitting back on the stool with a faint 'okay' coming from her mouth. Her fingers drummed on the counter, a small bit of humming coming from her as she tried not to ask Miltia what they'd meant. She could guess based on context, but at the same time, there was really no way to know for sure.

After about a minute, she turned to look at Miltia. "Did you see the way Melanie looked before she left? Know what that was about?"

"She probably thought you looked like me."

Ruby's brows furrowed as she leaned forward, only able to view Miltia's profile. "What do you mean? I mean, our eyes are really different—plus your face is a lot less soft than—"

"I meant how I looked when I was thirteen."

Ruby glared at her, giving her a faint pout. "I'm fifteen!"

Miltia looked at her, a faint smile on her face. "Could've fooled me."

Ruby glared harder, only succeeding in getting Miltia to smile wider.

Ruby turned away for a moment, staring at the counter before taking a breath. "I don't know what she did to make you so angry, but…I'm sure whatever it was she didn't mean to hurt you."

Miltia was silent.

Ruby laid a hand on her shoulder. "I don't have a twin—which is probably for the best, I drive everyone crazy enough with one of me—but I do have Yang. And, yeah, she drives me nuts and I drive her nuts, but we still care about each other. We'd never do anything to hurt each other on purpose…so, why would Melanie do that to you?"

Miltia took a breath. "It's not that she meant to, it's that she screwed up something bigger that time. It was my chance—our chance to actually make something of ourselves and she ruined it!"

Ruby flinched as she slammed her claw on the counter.

Miltia looked back at her, frowning as she pulled her claw back. "Sorry, I…look, forget about it. She'll calm down, I'll calm down—and we'll both get back to doing what we do best before Junior even realizes we stopped."

Ruby leaned over, laying a hand on Miltia's. "Are you okay? Not that you look not-okay—well, I mean, you kinda do—but not in that way! You're really pretty, it's just you look like you've got something bothering you and I'm just really hoping that that thing isn't me."

Miltia looked at her, confusion evident in her expression as she stared at the sympathetic, smiling, silver-eyed girl next to her. Her eyes shifted for a second as she looked away, her face tinting pink. "Why?"

"Why what?"

Miltia rolled a strike with her eyes as she groaned. "Why do you care? I'm a random bodyguard at a place you've never been to that your sister beat the crap out of a few months ago. What reason do you possibly have to care if I'm okay or not?"

"You're a person, aren't you?"

Miltia blinked. "Yeah?"

Ruby smiled. "Welp, that's enough of a reason for me!"

Miltia stared at Ruby, gears in her mind working overdrive as she tried to analyze the girl in front of her. To see past the smiling, bright-eyed exterior into the inner machinations of her mind. There had to be something, some kind of ulterior motive or desire driving her actions.

Yet she found nothing.

How was that possible?

Ruby frowned as Miltia seemed to drift off, aimlessly staring at her. She waved a hand in front of her face, only to get the same, dazed look she'd been getting for the last few seconds. "Uhh…Miltia? You okay? Helloooo?"

"Hey, Rubes!"

Ruby turned, seeing Yang waving toward her. Her voice seemed to snap the Malachite twin out of her stupor, the red-clad girl staring at Yang for a second before rising—walking out toward one of the nearby booths with a contemplative look on her face.

Ruby stared after her for a second before walking over to Yang, seeing her with her arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe. "Did you get the passports or do we need to come back later?"

"What was that whole thing with Miltia?"

Ruby smiled. "Oh, she was super nice! She and her sister came over when some guy hit on me and tried to buy me a drink." she frowned. "Then they started fighting and Melanie stomped off. I asked if Miltia was okay and she got really defensive—kept asking me why I cared. Then she got this weird look on her face—like how I look when I'm working on a reeeeally hard math problem for Oobleck!"

"Why did you say you cared?"

Ruby shrugged, a confused look on her face. "I said I cared because she was a person."

Yang nodded, a faint smile on her face as her eyes flicked back to the red Malachite. Said girl was currently sitting in a booth, eyes flicking across the table, deep in thought. "Well, come on. We gotta get our pictures taken."

"Here?"

Yang nodded, dragging Ruby through the back into a somewhat dimmer hallway—casually walking past several plain doors. "Yeah. He said it'll be about a day before he can get them to us—but he's got a camera in the back we can use right now!"

The two made their way to the end of the hall, only two doors away from the large 'EXIT' sign. Yang pushed the door open, revealing a plain, black camera set up facing a dark-blue background with a stool in the center.

Junior was leaning against the wall, eyes flicking between the two before pushing himself back upright. He gestured to the stool. "Who's going first?"

The two looked at each other.

Yang casually pushed Ruby forward. "She is."

Ruby gave her sister a small glare before walking to the stool, taking a seat with her hands in her lap. "So, uh…how does this work? Do you smile for passport photos? Make a serious face? What a—what do I do?"

Junior looked up from the camera. "Most people smile—but honestly it doesn't really matter."

Ruby nodded, giving her usual smile—unconsciously tilting her head a bit.

Junior snapped the picture before showing it to Yang—who promptly nodded in approval.

Ruby hopped up when Junior motioned her to do so, swapping places with Yang. She watched her sister lean back a bit on the stool, giving a bright smile and waving off to the right.

Junior frowned slightly before taking the photo, showing it to Ruby.

Ruby nodded. "Thanks, mister!"

Junior stared at Ruby for a moment before nodding. "I…you're welcome, kid. Uh, anyway—" he stood, adjusting his tie as he turned to Yang. "I'll have the passports ready for pick-up tomorrow morning. One of you come by and I'll have one of the twins hand them over."

Yang smirked as she ruffled Ruby's hair. "What do you say, Rubes? Wanna work your magic on the Malachites again?"

Ruby frowned. "What do you mean magic? I was just being me!"

"Well, they seem pretty fond of you, then."

Junior watched the sisters bicker for a moment before clearing his throat—drawing their attention to the taller man. "Fifty lien for the passports, blondie."

Yang's brows furrowed. "Each?"

"Total."

Yang shrugged, reaching into her back pocket and producing her wallet. She handed over the lien without hesitation, taking a step back. "If I find out you scammed me—"

Junior casually cupped his hands in front of him, directly over his groin. "Like I'd risk it after last time."

Ruby looked between the two, a puzzled expression on her face as she once more tilted her head a little. Somehow, she didn't connect the dots. "Huh? What happened last time?"

Yang shook her head. "Nothing important."

"Whaaat? Come on, I wanna know!"

Yang took Ruby's wrist, somewhat forcefully guiding her out of the room and shutting the door behind her. She, for the most part, ignored Ruby's questions and 'methods' of getting her to talk: Poking at her exposed midriff, tugging on her arm, wrapping her arms around her back, and trying to crush her—though it was her so it was really just a strong hug—etc.

She stopped when they got out to the bar, eyes flicking to the booth Miltia was sitting at. Her attempts at getting Yang to talk died on her lips, her expression shifting to one of worry as she saw her staring idly at the table.

Of course, Yang noticed. She looked back, following Ruby's eyes to see Miltia sitting there. A faint smirk found its way to her face as she took Ruby's wrist, pulling her toward Miltia. She looked back, keeping that same smirk as she looked at her sister. "If you're so worried, go talk to her."

Ruby's face tinted pink. "Wha—what am I supposed to say?"

"Beats me—you're the Malachite whisperer."

Miltia, meanwhile, looked up to see Yang walking toward her, a faint smile on her face as she dragged a somewhat reluctant Ruby behind her. She watched the two approach, Yang shoving Ruby into the booth before sitting on the outside—effectively trapping her in. "What's up?"

Miltia just rested her face against her hand, a bored expression on her face.

Yang nudged Ruby, gesturing to the silent twin. "Well? Go on—ask her!"

Ruby blinked a few times, her expression shifting to one of utter bafflement. "Huh? Ask what—I didn't know I was supposed to have a question ready!"

Yang wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Oh come on, Rubes. You were the one who said you didn't get the hot chick's number."

"I DIDN'T SAY THOSE WORDS!"

Miltia watched the two bicker for a moment before sitting upright, grabbing one of the napkins from the table and slipping a pen from within her dress. Without a word she wrote her scroll address on it, sliding it to Ruby.

Ruby looked down, eyes flicking between the napkin and Miltia before grabbing her scroll—adding her as a contact. All the while her sister looked at her with a prideful smile, her arms crossed over the table.

Ruby looked up, frowning as she saw Miltia staring at her. "Hey, Yang? You mind uh…you know."

Yang looked between the two before she chuckled. "Alright, I'll make myself scarce."

Yang stood, walking back toward the bar.

Ruby turned back to Miltia, face tinting pink as she rubbed her arm. "Sorry about that, Yang's uh…well, she's kinda…I don't know where I'm going with this."

"It's okay, I get it."

Ruby nodded a few times, looking back to see Yang sit back at the bar, ordering something from a nearby bartender before giving her a thumbs up—getting Ruby to blush again. Still, she tried to push her natural awkwardness aside—with slight success—to speak. "Still mad at Melanie?"

Miltia rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

The girl was starting to give Ruby serious Weiss vibes. "Look, I don't know if you wanna talk about it, vent about it, or something else—but if you need to…well, I'm already here. So, uh…yeah."

Miltia gave a faint smile, staring up into her eyes. Though, that smile quickly faded as she recalled why she was upset. "What's your dream, Ruby?"

Ruby opened her mouth, only to close it and tap her chin. Mostly, she was recalling what her sister had warned her about before walking in—specifically about telling people she was a huntress. Then again, Miltia didn't seem inclined toward attacking her—and Yang wasn't that far away.

"To be a huntress."

Miltia blinked a few times before leaning back in the booth, eyes hardening a bit. "What if your sister screwed that up for you? What if she made it so you could never be a huntress? What would you do?"

Ruby frowned. "I mean…hypothetically, did she do it on purpose?"

"Let's assume 'no'."

Ruby frowned, eyes skirting across the table as she tapped her chin. She tried to imagine how she'd feel: Losing her future. Her career. Her biggest connection to her family members—never meeting her new friends.

She sighed. "I'd be angry. Like really, really angry. I…knowing me, I'd say something I'd regret later like 'I hate you' or 'I wish you were dead' or something—then I'd feel like the worst person alive after and try to apologize. But…"

She gave Miltia a faint smile. "I don't think I'd blame her. I'd be mad, sure, but I can't blame her over something she didn't do on purpose. Things would probably be really tense for a while, but…I like to think we'd move past it."

Miltia leaned forward, expression shifting to one of confusion. "You'd forgive her? After she kept you from doing what you love? After she ruined your chances at happiness?"

Ruby's brow furrowed. "I mean…yeah. She's my sister—how could I just hate her? Besides, just because I couldn't be a huntress doesn't mean I couldn't be happy. There are lots of things to be happy about!"

"Like what?"

Ruby smiled, counting off on her fingers. "The feeling of the wind on my face during a morning run. The punch of sweetness from the first bite out of a cookie. That warm, fuzzy feeling I get when I see a cute thing or pet my baby boy Zwei—stuff like that!"

Miltia's expression grew even more confused. "Those aren't…I meant being happy in general—not moment to moment."

Ruby gave a warm smile. "You know, my mom had a saying about things like that. 'If all you look at is a forest of misery, you miss out on all the happy little trees inside'."

Miltia's eyes widened a bit. "I…that's…huh."

Her eyes fell to the table, her left hand running over her right. Her expression fell into contemplative suspension, mind falling into the thoughts she'd been entertaining since her talk with Ruby earlier.

Ruby gulped. "Miltia? You're not going to space out for another five minutes, are you?"

It somewhat shocked Ruby when the older girl looked up from the table, gazing at her. Honestly, she figured she and Yang were just going to leave her to her pondering. "Your mother sounds like a smart woman."

"Yeah, she was…she was…"

Ruby frowned, squeezing her hands into fists as she stared at them. She forced the familiar waves of emotion down, willing herself not to cry. Not now…save the tears for her grave—Miltia doesn't need to worry about that right now.

Miltia looked up, eyes widening a bit as she realized. "Oh…sorry, I—"

"It's okay, you…it's okay."

Miltia's expression took on a concerned quality Ruby'd not seen in her yet. She rose from her place, taking the seat Yang had previously occupied. Her right hand reached over, gently laying over Ruby's left. "Are you okay?"

Ruby nodded, sniffing and furiously rubbing at her somewhat teary eyes with her right hand. "Yeah, fine. We uh…me and Yang we, umm…lost her when I was little. I…don't remember her very well."

She slammed her right fist onto the table, expression hardening. "Anyway! So, uh…what was I saying?"

Miltia smiled, leaning over and wrapping her arms around Ruby. After a few seconds, Ruby returned the gesture, fighting the urge to sneeze as the feathers on Miltia's shoulder tickled her nose. "Thank you, Ruby."

Ruby leaned back a bit, a bright smile on her face. "Don't mention it, friend!"

Miltia stood, holding out a hand and pulling Ruby up from the booth. She looked toward Yang before turning her back to her, eyes fixed on Ruby's face. "So…any idea when I'll see you again?"

"Tomorrow morning—Junior said he'd have you or Melanie give us the passports."

Miltia nodded, patting Ruby's shoulder. "See you then."

She turned away, heading into the crowded dance floor as Ruby walked back to her sister. Who, speaking of, had the biggest 'I'm proud of my baby sister' look this side of Vacuo. The second Ruby was within arm's reach she was pulled into a one-armed hug. "How'd it go, huh?"

Ruby looked over her shoulder, smiling as she saw Miltia wave at her from the dance floor.

"I just made a friend."