A combination of wanting to force myself to write sometime brake out of writers block, the full brain rot from all the tik tok edits finally got to me. Anyway I love the Epic Saga and I am dying for more RWBY so here we are.
Weiss grew up in a very cold household that's no secret. So it really was no surprise that when she had gotten comfortable with her team she loved them more than anything in Remnant. They are her first real friends, her found family and her reason for being who she is today. The friends she had made at Beacon had changed her life, and Weiss is fully aware that if she had never met them, she would have become a nasty and horrible person. Not a day goes by that she isn't grateful that her friends saved her from that.
Especially Ruby.
It's known that Weiss doesn't know much about relationships; especially the nuance differences between platonic and romantic. Ruby could be friends with anyone if given the chance. Ruby and Jaune's friendship both made sense and did not to Weiss. She was not surprised to find out they are good friends. But on the other hand she didn't like Jaune. He was pushy, annoying, and just wouldn't leave her alone. Just the thought alone made Weiss feel irritated.
What about 'No' did he not understand? But Ruby always stood up for him. Always saying that he isn't a bad guy, just a little slow at times. Weiss still didn't get it, but maybe she wasn't meant to. Something about that left a bad taste in her mouth.
With Weiss's understanding of platonic relationships feeling shaky; she felt that she had a slightly better understanding of romantic relationships. Team RWBY had enough movie nights, and she read enough romance books(that she borrowed from Blake) to have a loose understanding. That leads to Weiss believing that Ren and Nora are together.
It was more of a theory than a belief to be honest. But the more Weiss observed the more she started to believe it.
Ren is a quiet person; he never shares his thoughts unless directly asked, and he is apparently a fantastic cook. Nora on the other hand is loud, seems to never stop talking, and is extremely childish. But together they seem to balance each other out. Ren talks more around Nora, and in turn Nora is more reserved around Ren.
Of course there was the fact that Nora was very very clingy with Ren, but Weiss had assumed that she was like that with everyone.
She's not.
And somehow that shook Weiss to her core. How was it that love could make a person softer? It's so different from what Weiss had grown up seeing that she had lost sleep over it. Just the thought that love could be so warm and comforting had Weiss's brain buzzing.
"Weiss? Hey, you doing okay? You look worn out," asked Blake. Her question shocked Weiss out of her brain fog. Blinking, Weiss focused on Blake's face.
"I'm fine. Really," said Weiss, but Blake's impassive face urged her to say more. "Fine, if you must know; I had a realization the other day that rattled me I suppose."
"Oh? And what could rattle the great Weiss Schnee so much?" Teased Blake, as she sat down next to Weiss. On her desk. 'There's a chair across the room!' Weiss clenched her jaw to keep that thought silent.
Sighing, Weiss leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. Part of her didn't want to share but the louder part(that for some reason sounded like Ruby) urged her to spill the beans.
"I've come to realize that when someone loves another, they are actually nice to them," admitted Weiss, through clenched teeth.
Blake gently places a hand on Weiss's shoulder, causing her to start. "Did you think love was supposed to hurt?"
"... I guess I did." Blake just hummed at that.
"I think a few months ago I would have agreed with that," Blake pauses, her hands slipping off of Weiss's shoulder. "I had planned for Beacon to be a new start for me. A second chance. But it's also given me people that make me smile and have fun. I think we both just needed to get away and meet new people."
Weiss relaxed at that thought. Her and Blake are kinda similar. How reassuring, knowing that someone close thinks in a similar way. And to think that if Weiss had become a carbon copy of her Father, her and Blake would never have become friends. "Thank you, Blake."
Blake hummus again, "No need for thank yous. That's what friends are for."
Weiss smiled at that.
"Weiss! There's a carnival happening Downtown! We have to go, it'll be so much fun!" Ruby jumped at Weiss in excitement; she all but shoved the flyer in Weiss's face. With the colorful paper being a hair's breath away from her nose, all Weiss could see was very unfocused blobs of color. "Youll go with me right? It can be partner bonding! And I can show you the wonders of carnival food!"
Weiss could have sworn that Ruby's excitement made her eyes shine even brighter than usual. The pure joy of Ruby made Weiss's chest feel warm.
How could she say no to Ruby?
"Alright, when should we leave?"
The Carnival was wonderful. Ruby had dragged Weiss to every booth that had caught her attention. She had even won a massive white fox plush in a marksmanship game.
"Excellent shooting," complemented Weiss, a small smile on her face. The joy of the environment seemed to be infectious.
Pink tinted Ruby's cheeks but Weiss had turned her head, distracted by a loud group laughing as they passed the partners.
"Oh, thanks. I uh, I actually won it for you," said Ruby, holding out the huge plush for Weiss to take.
Weiss stopped walking, surprised. "For me? But you won it. You should have it."
Ruby took a step closer to Weiss; still holding out the fox plush. "Yeah, but it reminded me of you. It matches your hair.'
'It reminded me of you.'
"Well alright then," Weiss accepted the plush, hugging it close to her body. "But it's not fair that you don't have a prize anymore. I'll win you something."
"Hahaha! Weiss you don't have to do that. It's a gift!" said Ruby, a grin on her face
"I've made up my mind! In fact I see a prize over there that I think you would like." Weiss had spotted a booth with a massive dog plush that looked a lot like Zwei. It also looked very squishy which meant it was perfect for better And what made it perfect for Weiss is that the booth has a giant gumball machine advertising that anyone who can guess the right amount of gumballs wins the jackpot.
This time Weiss drags Ruby to the booth with a grin on her face
The booth attendant perks up at the red and white duo walking up. "Why hello ladies! Care to try to guess how many gumballs are inside? 5 Lein a guess!"
The attendant slapped the glass of the gumball machine at the end of his speech with a crooked grin. Weiss let go of Ruby's hand to pull out her wallet; taking out a 5 she handed it to the attendant without a word. Thank the Gods that she happened to have small bills today.
"I like the confidence!" taking the money the attendant shoved it into his fanny pack and moved aside so Weiss could get a better look at the gumballs. "Guess whenever you think you got it!"
Minutes go by making both Ruby and the attendant antsy. Then finally Weiss turns to the attendant. " 40,000. Give or take 100."
"That-that's correct," stutters the attendant. "Which prize do you want?"
"That one," Weiss points to the corgi plush.
"Weiss, that was amazing. How did you do that?" asked Ruby, with the massive and very very squishy Corgi in her arms, and a bright smile on her face.
Weiss smirked, "Math."
Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "Math? But you didn't have anything to write on."
"I did it in my head. No paper needed," Weiss glanced at Ruby, her brow lifted in light confusion. "Everyone can do mental math."
"Not like that!" shouted Ruby. "I can only do single digits in my head! How did you keep track of all the numbers?"
Weiss just shrugged, "It's a simple formula-"
"YOU DID A FORMULA IN YOUR HEAD?!"
For the rest of the night Ruby struggled to wrap her brain around Weiss being a "math wizard", much to Weiss's amusement. When they finally got back to their dorm Weiss was ready to shower and go to sleep. She could smell grease and sweat on herself.
Yang perked up when the door opened; setting her phone on her lap. "Wow, I'm impressed that you actually got Weiss to go to the Carnival Rubes. How did you do it?."
"I just asked her like a normal person!" responded Ruby.
"Really? I remember you shoving the flyer in my face when you asked me," comments Weiss, as she places the fox plush on her desk.
Ruby gasps in betrayal. "Weiss! Shut up she doesn't need to know that!"
Yang laughs from her bed. Blake glances at the plushes, her eyes switching from the fox to the corgi. "Looks like Ruby has some good luck at the game booths."
Ruby turns around from her bed, where she was about to put her new favorite stuffed animal. "Actually Weiss won this one. She guessed how many gumballs were in a gumball machine on the first try! And she did it by doing math in her head! But not like easy mental math. She did a formula in her head! And she said it was easy! Can you believe that?"
Gathering her shower things Weiss paused for a second to correct Ruby. "I said it was simple, not easy. "
"Same thing!"
Later when Weiss is laying in bed failing to sleep she realizes that she had been smiling all day. An image of Ruby flashed in her mind, and she felt and smiled again only this time with a warmth in her face and heart.
It wasn't until Beacon fell that Weiss realized she was in love with Ruby. But by then it didn't matter.
One of my favorite lines in the chapter is "did you think love was suppose to hurt?"
I love how simple yet deep it is, especially since Blake is one who says it. To me Blake and Weiss are foils for healing after leaving toxic relationships, they are also the only ones on team RWBY who would actually understand what the other means when they talk about it.
I looked up how many gumballs are inside a jumbo gum machine for the 40,000. I also found out that you can't use the sphere equation trick in real life. The really big machines have a small clear plastic sphere inside that pushes the gumballs out. So there's less gumballs inside then you really think.