#ITS ALLLLL COMIN TOGETHER | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mikotyzini · 6 years ago

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What Defines Us - Ch. 28

Link to ff.net. I’ll work on setting up AO3 eventually...not really feeling the writing/posting vibe at the moment.

It was showtime!

Well, not yet, but it would be showtime in just a few days! Crunch time! Whatever time!

The Beacon Invite was right around the corner! Training hours and practice times would be cranked up by a factor of ten. All non-essential hobbies were now non-essential! Sleeping in? Non-essential. Watching TV? Non-essential. Walking? Non-essential!!

Especially that last one. Walking sucked.

To avoid making a fool of herself in front of a huge crowd of strangers (and the television audience), Ruby needed to buckle down and focus on getting as good as possible in the next couple days. Sure, it was only a couple of days, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t improve by leaps and bounds if she tried hard enough. She realized people said ‘Vale wasn’t built in a day’ or whatever, but she wasn’t trying to build all of Vale - just a tiny portion of it!

With her current level of determination through the roof, she was back to the grind of early mornings and late nights stuffed with training. Waking up earlier, going to bed later, and spending every moment in between figuring out how to make herself better. There was going to be pain - and lots of it - but it’d be pain that came from a hard day’s work - not the lingering pain from nearly severed hands. And one of those things was clearly better than the other.

Her new schedule was to wake up, train, train, train, train, and then temporarily get distracted whenever Weiss sent a message. Not that there was any problem with that. Weiss had already been deemed a very essential part of the day. The most essential, in fact!

But the second most essential was training, which Ruby started bright and early this morning. Well, technically it wasn’t bright at all since she was already outside with Thorn and Crescent Rose by the time the sun woke up.

Her morning training went well, but she had lots of time to regret the missed opportunities she’d had at dinner to ask if Weiss liked anyone. Seriously, she’d chickened out big time - more than once, too! There’d been so many chances to bring it up, but each time she ended up sputtering like a tugboat before asking a different question instead. It was horrible! It was like...knowing exactly what question you wanted to ask, but asking a different one instead.

Ok, maybe Ruby hadn’t asked what she wanted to ask...and she hadn’t brought up anything remotely close to the topic...but she had asked Weiss to come to the Beacon Invite! And Weiss said yes!

As an extra-added, cherry-on-top bonus, she was also coming over soon to help Ruby practice.

Essential + essential = essential squared!

Essential x essential = …she was a huntress, not a mathematician!

Either way, there were a lot of essential things happening at once. Ruby was going to train hard, and she was going to ask Weiss today. She was definitely going to. That was her daily goal, and she hated not reaching her goals. If she chickened out again...then she would voluntarily ask Yang to explain the plot of whatever show she currently loved watching. That was like five hours of punishment, minimum.

Wait, did Ruby really want to enforce a punishment that could potentially be everlasting?

Yes, she would because there was no way she wanted to listen to that! So she had to ask Weiss today. It would be easy! ‘Hey, do you happen to like anyone?’ It was only like...six words. Six little words that would reveal so much information. Like, most importantly, whether or not Ruby even had a shot.

But if Weiss replied with ‘oh yeah, this guy at my office…’ or something like that, Ruby was going to knock her head against the nearest wall to put herself back into the hospital.

Just kidding. Kind of...

‘Hey, do you happen to like anyone?’

The answer would either lead to very happy Ruby or really bummed Ruby.

Oh, it’s seven words. Well, whatever - it wasn’t many! She’d used more than that to greet her toothbrush this morning. Because who didn’t greet their toothbrush in the morning? It was only the thing that kept her teeth nice and white and clean. Wasn’t that deserving of a ‘good morning?’

Oral hygiene was very essential, which meant that Timmy-Too was a big part of her day! And he was extra special because Yang had driven around town to find him after his twin brother, Timmy, had grown a bit too old and frazzled. That had been a sad day...but now Timmy-Too was here, and there were six more Timmy’s in the closet waiting to be opened!

Humming a tune to herself, Ruby dashed into the kitchen to fill up a bottle of water for training (fairly essential - dehydration was no joke). Hearing a buzz from her pocket, she set down the partially-filled bottle and pulled out her scroll to find a message...from Weiss!

Wait, why was that surprising? Weiss was the only one who messaged her besides Yang and sometimes Blake.

Anyway, the message said...‘Is now be a good time to come over? I can leave the office in a few minutes.’

Yes! The best part of the day had finally arrived. Ruby had only waited alllll day for this very moment. Typing a happy response filled with exclamation points, she sent it off and stared down at the scroll for a second. When she saw that the message had been received, she slipped the device back into her pocket and continued her humming, adding in a few whistles to boot.

Weiss was comin’ over, yeah, yeah, yeah! Weiss was comin’ over toni-i-iight.

Reaching over the sink to fill her water bottle all the way up - whistling all the while - she glanced over her shoulder when she felt eyes watching her - and found both Yang and Blake staring at her. Blake was impossible to read, as usual, but Yang had this smile that said she was pleased to see something.

“What?” Ruby asked, shutting off the faucet and screwing the cap back on her bottle. The question made Yang’s smile turn into an outright grin.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?”

“I’m always in a good mood!”

“Uh huh…” Yang replied in a teasing tone. “So it wouldn’t be a certain short-tempered heiress that’s got you all chipper?”

“Weiss?” Ruby asked, her cheeks warming just from just the mention of Weiss’ name. “She’s not short-tempered.”

“Not with you,�� Blake remarked before grinning. “And you dodged the question.”

Ruby grimaced at the accurate observation. Nothing slipped by Blake. Once, Ruby had seen the girl grab a fish right out of the water! Like...if that little bugger couldn’t slip past on its own turf, nothing ever would.

Of course, Ruby was far more cunning than a fish!

“I’m just having a good day,” she stated as nonchalantly as possible, throwing in a high-level shoulder shrug to boot. “Isn’t that allowed?”

It absolutely was allowed. It was! But the question clearly didn’t work. Instead, Yang and Blake exchanged big smiles before turning back to her.

“Ruby’s got a crushhhhhh.”

Ruby’s cheeks instantly heated up when Yang said the word in a sing-song voice and reached out to try to tickle her in the ribs.

“Come on, Yang,” Ruby said while wiggling away. “We’re just friends. It’s nice to have a friend.”

Yang nodded understandingly. “You’re right; it’s great to have friends - especially ones you can crush on.”

“We’re friends!” Ruby reiterated. Technically, she was telling the truth. She and Weiss were just friends, but that little technicality didn’t keep her cheeks from turning as red as her name.

“Are you feeling ok?” Yang asked, her eyes teasing while she faked concern. Stepping closer, she tried to press the back of her hand to Ruby’s forehead, but Ruby backed away. “Because you’re looking a little warm there.”

“It’s really hot in here!” Lifting her hands to her cheeks, Ruby could feel the heat radiating from them. It only got worse when Yang laughed and tried to reach out again, only for Ruby to knock her hand away.

“Give her a break, Yang,” Blake finally said, tapping Yang on the shoulder before walking over to the refrigerator. “Ruby, I made some lemonade this afternoon - your favorite. Want some?”

“Thank you, Blake,” Ruby replied before sticking her tongue out at her sister. “And yeah, that’d be awesome! I didn’t know you made any!”

“Sure did,” Blake replied while pulling a glass from the cupboard. “Oh, but how would you like your ice? Cubed or crushed?”

As soon as the word left Blake’s lips, Yang doubled over in laughter.

“Oh man,” she managed to say between laughs, holding up a fist for Blake to tap. “You really crushed that one.”

They were super pleased with themselves, but Ruby rolled her eyes.

“You guys are dorks.”

“Come on, Ruby!” Yang said between giggles that made Blake beam with pride. “Admit it - I know you think she’s cute!”

Pursing her lips together, Ruby refused to respond. But that didn’t stop her cheeks from burning even hotter in embarrassment. Weiss was one of the most beautiful girls Ruby had ever seen. It was like she’d stepped right out of a fairytale - a princess who was born to be pretty.

But Weiss wasn’t just a princess, and she wasn’t just pretty. She was super smart with a great sense of humor. She was generous and thoughtful and whenever she smiled, Ruby’s heart cartwheeled in her chest.

No way Ruby was ever telling Yang that though!

“I mean, I guess she’s pretty.” Ruby shrugged one shoulder and felt her blush darken. “Anyone would think that though.”

“Anyone?” Yang repeated with a grin while Ruby nodded.

“Yeah, anyone! So no need to make a huge deal about it, gosh…”

“You should know, Ruby, that your blush might as well be a signed confession,” Blake commented as she put the empty glass back into the cupboard.

“You didn’t even make lemonade??” Ruby gasped in shock. “You lied so that you could make a crappy joke?”

Blake returned Ruby’s consternation with what was probably supposed to be an innocent expression, but it was anything but.

“Hey now,” Yang cut in as she predictably came to Blake’s aid. “I’m the master of crappy jokes around here and that was not a bad one. A bad one would be something like - Ruby, your cheeks are as red as crushed tomatoes right now.”

While both of them laughed, Ruby raised her hands to feel her warm cheeks. Yup, they were definitely redder than red.

“So you think she’s cute! That’s adorable,” Yang said, wrapping an arm around Ruby’s shoulders and giving her a little shake. “I guess that means you’re finally old enough to have the talk.”

Blake let out a small snort of laughter before waving at Yang to continue. Turning her head, Ruby looked at her sister curiously.

“What talk?”

“You know...the birds and the bees.”

“Aw Yang!” she immediately whined, pushing Yang off of her.

“I believe it would be the birds and birds?” Blake asked, the question causing Yang’s brow to crease in thought before she grinned.

“Either way, I gotta give you the talk. It’s a rite of passage!”

“That’s not a thing!” Ruby protested.

“Yeah, it is! Everyone has to go through it!”

“Who gave you the talk then?” Ruby demanded. The smile dropped right off of Yang’s face as she glanced a Blake then shivered in fake horror.

“Dad did...and believe me - you’d much rather I did this than him.”

The idea of their dad giving any kind of serious talk made Ruby laugh, especially seeing Yang’s expression. Dad sucked with that type of stuff! He always used the worst things for comparison. Once, he tried to explain how rainbows worked using a teaspoon. Ruby had listened to the entire made-up spiel before Yang interrupted with the much more understandable version she’d just learned in school.

So yes - if Ruby actually wanted to learn something, Yang was the better option. But not in this case!

“I don't need any talk!” Ruby insisted instead. “I’m old enough to figure this out on my own!”

“Oh really? Ok, Miss Independent, then tell the truth - do you wanna kiss her?”

“Yang!” she shouted, her cheeks growing about a hundred times warmer in under a second.

“Oh she does,” Blake said with a grin.

“You’re blushingggg!” Yang added, gleefully poking at Ruby’s cheek.

“No, I’m - that’s not - this conversation is non-essential!” Ruby finally yelled, only succeeding in making both of her dumb housemates burst into more laughter before she rushed off to her room to find her boots. Weiss would be here any minute, and Ruby didn’t want to be stuck with those two dumb-dumbs any longer.

If blushing was an admission of how she felt...then she’d just admitted a whole heck of a lot. Curse her cheeks for giving away her feelings! And curse Yang for seeing right through her! Was it that obvious? Sure, she might have an itty, bitty, little crush. And yeah, maybe that also meant that sometimes she wanted to - yeah, Yang was just right about everything.

“But she’s a big stupid-head,” Ruby muttered to herself while pulling on one of her boots and tightening the laces.

“Ohhh guess who’s here!” Yang’s voice called out a few seconds later.

“Yang!” Ruby shouted out of her room while hastily stomping a foot into her second boot and stumbling into the hall. By the time she made it to the living room, Yang was pulling open the front door to let Weiss inside.

“Hey Weiss!” Yang said - way too cheerfully.

“Hello Yang,” Weiss replied, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

“We were just talking about you!”

Rushing over, Ruby used both hands to shove Yang out of the doorway. Not at all annoyed, Yang walked away chuckling with Weiss looked after her.

“Don’t listen to her,” Ruby said, sending a glare towards her sister. “She’s just upset because Blake didn’t make her any lemonade today.”

“Oh don’t worry, Ruby. Blake makes me lemonade every day,” Yang replied with a wink and grin that didn’t even fade from the look of disbelief Blake gave her.

“How did you manage to make that dirty?”

“I have no idea,” Yang answered with a shrug. “It’s all in the tone, I guess!”

“Come on, Weiss,” Ruby said, taking Weiss’ hand and heading towards the garage. “Those two are being super weird right now.”

“Let me know when you wanna have that talk, Ruby!” Yang called after them, her joyful laughter filtering through the garage door even after Ruby closed it with a disgruntled huff.

“They’re teasing you again?” Weiss asked.

“What else is new!”

When Ruby tried to throw her hands up in defeat, she realized that Weiss’ fingers were still intertwined with her own. Her mind also chose that moment to remind her of all the thoughts and feelings that had been rushing through her head for what felt like forever now. And that one other word that began with the letter ‘c’ - a capital one, at that.

If Yang could read Ruby’s mind right now, there’d be no end to the teasing. It didn’t help that Weiss was so pretty. Somehow she was even prettier today than when they’d gone out to dinner. Was Weiss getting prettier? Because that’d be really unfair to the rest of the world. And bad for Ruby.

When she realized she was staring, she blushed and released Weiss’ hand before moving to the other side of the workbench as if she was searching for something. Which she was! Where was Thorn? He was always a good distraction.

“Uh, so...how have you been?” she asked while opening a few drawers and closing them without looking inside.

Great. Now she was awkward Ruby. Well, technically she was always awkward Ruby, but sometimes she hid it better than others. This was not one of those times...

“I’ve been doing well - how have you been?”

Erg. Weiss had the most put together answers ever! How did she talk like that? Ruby couldn’t even convince her mind to think like that, let alone get her lips to cooperate stringing the words together.

“I’ve been busy!” she answered quickly, a rush of pent-up energy making her words tumble out faster than normal. “I got up super early this morning and ran like a bazillion miles, then ate breakfast, then trained with Thorn, then ate lunch, then read through a strategy guide on Beowolves, then fiddled with Thorn - and that’s basically it until you showed up!”

While Ruby spoke, she shoved several odds and ends around on the workbench so that Thorn could lay in the middle without anything crowding his space. Quickly pressing a couple of metal plates back in place on the back of the glove and screwing them in, she pulled it on to show Weiss.

“I added some new features!”

“Did you? Such as..?” Weiss asked, her eyes trained on the glove as if searching for whatever changes had been made. And her interest in Thorn was genuine, which made her the most perfect person ever.

“Uh, like...a tracking device!” Ruby answered while pointing to nothing more than a pinprick in one of the knuckles of the glove. “Cuz ya never know when you might need to be found, right?”

“That would be very useful if you were separated from your scroll.”

“Or if I got kidnapped!” Ruby joked, drawing a horrified expression onto Weiss’ face.

“I...I don’t even know what I’d do if that happened…”

“You’d come to my rescue, of course!”

“Well, I’d try…”

“On a unicorn!” Ruby added, grinning when the word succeeded in making Weiss look less serious about the matter. Except she still tried to look serious while dutifully nodding and hiding a smile.

“It has been a while since I’ve taken Ignacio out of the stables…”

The answer made Ruby burst into giggles.

“The unicorn stables?” she asked.

“Oh yes. We breed them, you know.”

“For racing?”

“No, they’re just nice to look at.”

Imagining a field of unicorns whose only purpose was to be looked at, Ruby laughed so hard that Weiss finally broke her serious expression and chuckled too.

“I’d love to see those!” Ruby quipped before turning her hand over and flexing her fingers. Satisfied with Thorn’s immediate response, she nodded. It was crazy to think that it hadn’t been too long ago that Thorn had felt like some alien attached to her hand. Now it was just...Thorn being Thorn!

“It sounds like you’ve had a busy day,” Weiss commented, casually resting her hands on top of the workbench.

Glancing over, Ruby grinned when the painted thorns began to glow from their proximity. That was so freaking cool. It was like she and Weiss were connected by these little lines of paint. Or...uh...Thorn and Weiss’ ring were connected by the paint, but that was essentially the same thing, right?

Subtly moving her gloved hand closer so the lines glowed even brighter, Ruby smiled up at Weiss. The smile she received in return was warm and friendly - such a big contrast to when they’d first met! There was still a hint of guardedness, but Weiss had changed a lot.

A lot of things had been changing recently, and they all seemed for the better!

“I, yeah, I was busy,” Ruby answered when she realized staring wasn’t going to advance their conversation. “But, uh, what’d you do today?”

Apparently, it was a sucky question to ask because it made Weiss’ smile disappear. Note to self...don’t ask that again!

“I worked all day. There’s a never-ending stream of approvals that I’m somehow needed for.” Glancing down at Ruby’s hand, Weiss sighed, her shoulders rising and falling from the weight of it. “I miss the days when I wasn’t involved in the family business…”

“What did you do before?” Ruby asked curiously, the question drawing Weiss’ eyes back to her.

After studying Ruby for a few seconds, Weiss shrugged and glanced away. The gesture was so weird! It was something Ruby did all the time, but for someone so proper it looked strange!

“When I was younger, I wasn’t expected to be involved due to school,” Weiss answered casually. “Those were the days.”

“I miss being a kid too. All play, no work!” Pausing for a second, Ruby wrinkled her brow before chuckling. “Although I guess that’s kinda what I do now…”

“I wouldn’t call training all day ‘play.’ Especially not how you do it.”

“Eh...I guess…” Ruby wasn’t entirely convinced, but it was nice of Weiss to try to make her feel better about not doing any sort of work. Her ‘job’ was to get healthy - that’s what Yang always said. “But soon I can go on hunts again! Yang said after the Beacon Invite we’d go on another one. My choice this time!”

Smiling, Weiss remained uncharacteristically silent after Ruby’s words. And after a few seconds, she glanced down at their hands resting on the workbench, appearing almost uncomfortable with what had just been said.

“You’re totally invited to come, if you want!” Ruby quickly added. To her, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Weiss could come with them on any hunt, but maybe it wasn’t as clear to Weiss. That’s why Ruby had asked Weiss to join their team! Then there wouldn’t be any confusion or uncertainty.

But it made sense that Weiss was a very important person at work and wouldn’t be able to make that type of commitment as easily as someone like Ruby could. Maybe one day though...that’d be super cool.

“I’d love to come with you, if you still want me to...at that time,” Weiss finally answered with a hopeful smile that made Ruby let out a scoff of disbelief.

“Are you kidding me? Of course I’ll want you there! Nothing’s ever gonna change that!”

When Ruby beamed, Weiss only met her eyes for a split second before turning away.

Weiss was talking like a crazy person though! They hadn’t known each other that long, but they were already so close. So close that Ruby was feeling things for Weiss that she’d never felt for another person before.

Coughing lightly into one hand, Ruby’s cheeks decided to preemptively heat up when she realized that now might be a good time to ask the question. It was an ok time, right? She could ask - she would ask. It was only six little words. No, seven. How was she going to ask again??

“Hey, so I’ve been kinda wondering…” she managed to say, gaining Weiss’ attention only for crystal blue eyes to make her even more nervous. But she could do this - she could ask right now. Right now.

Seriously, ask now.

“Uh, you know, I’ve been wondering...do you happen to...like anyone?”

Ok, that was way more than seven words. But yay, she’d done it! Although from the look on Weiss’ face, that wasn’t at all the question she’d been expecting Ruby to ask. Not in the slightest. Unless Weiss’ ‘pure shock’ expression was the same as her ‘was totally expecting that’ one.

“I-I mean, it just seems like, you know, you’d have a ton of options - i-if you were interested.”

Ruby sputtering like a fish out of water did little to wipe the shock from Weiss’ gaze. Maybe Ruby should’ve thought of something to say after she’d asked the question. Or she should’ve talked to Yang about this first because she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

“Well,” Weiss finally responded, pausing for a second to clear her throat before continuing. “I...like you…”

“Yeah! Of course.” Ruby chuckled nervously while her cheeks blushed even harder. “I mean, I know that cuz we’re friends n’ all. I was more wondering like...uh, like more than that?”

With each second that passed with Weiss stared in open surprise, Ruby grew more and more embarrassed.

“You totally don’t have to answer that!” she finally said when she realized that she shouldn’t pry into Weiss’ personal life. “It’s really none of my business.”

“No, I...Ruby -”

“Ruby!”

At the sound of Ruby’s name, both of them turned towards the house - where Yang poked her head through the garage door a second later.

“Hey Ruby,” Yang said with a smile. “Can you help me with something real quick?”

Glancing at Weiss, who gave a half smile and nod, Ruby turned back to her sister.

“Uh, yeah! Sure!”

Meeting Yang at the door, Ruby looked over her shoulder before they left the garage behind, but Weiss was staring down at the workbench.

“Sorry, Blake - what did you need?” Yang asked as soon as they walked inside. Sitting on the sofa with one hand covering her eyes, Blake lowered it slowly and looked at them with a blank expression.

“Oh, nothing...was just trying to get your attention before you went out there…” she muttered before burying her nose in her book.

“As soon as Ruby helps me with this, my attention is all yours - promise!” Yang replied happily, taking Ruby’s shoulder in one hand and guiding her down the hallway towards the backyard.

The two of them navigated down the narrow hallway before Yang pushed open the back door and held it for Ruby to walk through.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Yang said as she hopped off the porch step and grabbed Ember Celica from the ground. “I’m having a little problem clearing a cartridge and thought I should ask you for help before I blew my good hand off.”

Chuckling, Ruby took one of the gauntlets from her sister and looked it over. Of course it was the right one having issues again. The right one had been the problem child for the longest time now...it didn’t make any sense either! Ruby fixed it all the time, but then it miraculously broke itself again.

“How did this even happen??” she asked, poking at a severely jammed rotating cylinder.

“I was...ya know...trying out those DEBs Weiss gave us. Blake told me not to put the red ones right after the blue, but I did anyway and mucked it up.” Running a hand through her hair, Yang let out a big sigh. “I guess I should’ve learned by now to always listen to her…”

“Probably should,” Ruby mumbled in the midst of her analysis. “You’d get in trouble less.”

“Yeah...but you know why I can’t? Because doing that would be admitting that all the years of school we dragged ourselves to was for nothing! Why did we go through all that torture if we were just gonna let the women in our lives tell us what to do anyway?? If I listen to Blake all the time, I’m admitting I wasted my life!”

“I would listen to Weiss,” Ruby replied. “She’s way smarter than me!”

“She’s not. She just thinks she is.”

When Ruby rolled her eyes, Yang continued.

“Ok, ok. So I’d say that Weiss is right a lot, but Blake is always right.”

“For your safety, I won’t tell either of them you said that,” Ruby joked, making Yang laugh. Tugging one more time at the gauntlet she was holding, Ruby dropped her arms and sighed.

“I’m gonna need some tools to get this out,” she concluded. “Won’t take long, but I don’t want to blow my hand off either.”

“Cool. Thank you!” When Ruby turned towards the house, Yang’s hand reached out to stop her. “But hey, before you go...how’s it going in there?” Nodding in the general direction of the house, Yang grinned.

“With Weiss?” Ruby asked after following her sister’s nod.

“Yeah - you two having fun?”

The question sounded innocent, but Yang’s expression was a dead giveaway that she wanted to tease Ruby again. Maybe. Sometimes it was so hard to tell! Maybe Yang wanted to tease, or maybe she was curious because she’d sensed the extreme wave of awkwardness wash over the house when Ruby attempted to find out if Weiss was already interested in someone.

“It’s fun! I like when Weiss comes over!” Ruby responded truthfully. “And I’m glad you two aren’t mad at each other anymore.”

“Me too, kiddo, me too,” Yang replied with a genuine smile, patting Ruby’s shoulder before turning to head inside.

Apparently, that hadn’t been meant as an opportunity to tease, but now this might be Ruby’s only chance to ask Yang for some advice.

“Uh, Yang?” Ruby asked, the question causing her sister to turn back to her.

Did she really want to ask Yang about this? Her sister might use the knowledge to tease her until the end of time, but Yang was also really good with people, so…

“I was wondering…” Ruby began slowly, her cheeks blushing from merely thinking about the topic. “If you, like, do you happen to know - or maybe have an idea - or something, uh…”

Yang’s expression grew more amused the longer Ruby stuttered. But how did she want to ask? And why were these questions so dang hard to get out??

“How do you know,” she tried again. “Or how do you guess, or, ya know, have some sort idea if - if another person -”

Groaning, she put her head in her hands. This was so embarrassing!

“I hope the ends of these questions are good,” Yang finally said with a light chuckle. “What’s up, Ruby? What’s got your tongue tied in knots?”

The friendly reaction immediately put Ruby at ease. Yang always had that way about her - if she sensed that something was difficult for another person to get through, she found a way to make it easier with nothing more than a few short words or a little laugh. People skills...Yang had gotten all of them.

“Ok,” Ruby attempted a third time, now feeling far more assured in her decision to seek Yang’s advice. “How do you know if someone...uh...likes you?”

Blinking once in surprise, Yang tried to stop a growing smile - failing miserably, by the way.

“Are you talking about -?” Pausing, Yang nodded towards the house, and Ruby felt her cheeks grow redder.

“Um...yes?”

Laughing, Yang pulled Ruby in for a big hug.

“Of course Blake likes you!” Yang said while ruffling Ruby’s hair. “You’re practically her sister!”

“Yangggg!” Ruby whined, shoving her sister away and straightening out her hair. “You know I mean - you know…” Looking around as if someone might be watching them, she ducked her head and lowered her voice. “I mean Weiss.”

“I know. Just wanted to hear you say it,” Yang replied with a grin. “Because you like her, don’t you?”

“Maybe…” Ruby muttered, making Yang reach out and tickle at her ribs, forcing her to laugh.

“You do, don’t ya? Come on, spill, Ruby! You gotta tell me!”

“Yangggg!” Ruby squealed while wiggling in her sister’s grasp. “Ok - ok, yes! I do!”

Letting go, Yang beamed in satisfaction while Ruby straightened her shirt and huffed in indignation.

“There - are you happy now?”

“Yup!” Yang replied, not at all perturbed by Ruby’s pretend agitation. “Ok, how to tell if someone likes you...well, normally if someone doesn’t like you, they’ll try to punch you. At least that’s always been the case for me.”

When Ruby rolled her eyes, Yang dropped her grin and kept talking - finally taking on a more serious and thoughtful expression.

“I guess it’s more of a feeling...or a hunch. It’s kinda hard to describe, but I guess the easiest way to find out is to see if they treat you differently than other people.”

“Differently how?”

“Like...maybe they make eye contact with you more, or they laugh at more of your jokes, or when they’re around you, you can just feel that they like being there.”

“Like how Blake laughs at your jokes even when they’re not funny,” Ruby teased.

“Ha ha - very funny,” Yang replied cheekily. “I’ll have you know that Blake thinks I’m hilarious.”

“Uh huh…”

“That’s only one part though!” Yang added, quickly changing the subject. “You can compare how they act with you versus other people. That’ll tell you most of the story, right? But honestly, Ruby, the easiest thing is just to tell her how you feel.”

“Just...flat out tell her that I like her??” Ruby asked in surprise. It had been nearly impossible for her to ask if Weiss liked anyone - how could she ever spill all these feelings out into the open??

“That’s the fastest way. And then hopefully she’ll tell you how she feels in return.”

Thinking about Yang’s words, which were not as wisdomous as she might’ve hoped, Ruby could already feel her nerves growing second and third cousins. Yang was wrong - the easiest route was to secretly and slyly figure out if Weiss liked anyone, then figure out who that person might be. Scratch that. The easiest route was actually to do nothing, and maybe Weiss would eventually ask Ruby who she liked. What Yang was suggesting was the opposite of easy.

“But that sounds impossible!” Ruby wailed.

“Yeah, I know,” Yang replied with a reassuring smile and nod of understanding. “But that’s the best way to know for sure. Like with Blake...I thought she might like me, but I wasn’t sure until I bit the bullet and asked her out.”

“But you at least had an idea that she might like you first!” Ruby pointed out, which made Yang nod again.

“Sure, there were hints. Like how she seemed like a loner, but then she stuck to my side like glue. She refused to stop reading in the middle of a chapter for anyone, except for me. Like seriously, if you interrupted her before she got to the end of a page, she could kill you with a glare. But, for some reason, I got special treatment. And then the more we got to know each other, the more she opened up about her past - her hopes and dreams and failures and fears...things she’d never told anyone before, she told me.”

Briefly pausing, Yang looked towards the house - where Blake was probably still sitting on the sofa with a book in hand.

“I kept her secrets,” Yang continued in a soft tone. “I protected them. Treasured them, even. That was what made me special - and that was a feeling unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. For this guarded, mysterious girl to trust her darkest secrets with me, of all people…”

Finally turning back to Ruby, there wasn’t a drop of humor left in Yang’s eyes.

“Do you feel like Weiss treats you differently?”

“I’ve only ever seen her around you and Blake…”

“Yeah, but does she treat you differently than us? Does she kinda gravitate more towards you?”

Furrowing her brow, Ruby tried to decide if that was true. Weiss did seem to stay closer to Ruby than Blake or Yang, but that could have more to do with them than with Ruby. Especially when Yang hadn’t been very welcoming for a while.

“I guess…” Ruby replied, even though she wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Does she trust you with things she hasn’t told anyone else?”

“I think so? Or she’s tried…” Ruby mumbled, remembering the conversation they’d had in the garage when she’d first looked over Myrtenaster. Weiss had been guarded, but it seemed like she’d made an effort to open up. It hadn’t been entirely descriptive or detailed, but she’d allowed Ruby to see a bit of the pain she almost always hid from view.

“And when she turns those pretty blue eyes on you, do shivers go up and down your spine?”

“Yang!” she whined at the unexpected tease. Still, she couldn’t help but smile when Yang chuckled.

“You know what I see, Ruby? I see a girl who goes out of her way to make sure you’re happy. Even if it makes her uncomfortable or if it’s something she doesn’t think she can do, she does it for you. Everything she does seems to have you in mind.”

“Do you really think so?” Ruby asked, earning a nod in reply.

“You can tell her,” Yang said, setting one hand on Ruby’s shoulder and smiling down at her. “She’d be crazy not to like you too.”

Yang might be the master of bad jokes, but she was also the queen of pep talks.

“Thanks, Yang,” Ruby replied, relief beginning to swirl through her. “And, uh, you don’t think it’s weird or anything? Since she’s your friend?”

“Do you think it’s weird to be friends with Blake?” Yang asked in return, causing Ruby to pause for a second before shaking her head.

“No, I guess not...”

“And you know I’m even less likely to be weirded out by that type of thing, so don’t worry! But...if she says she doesn’t like you or makes you sad, I’m going to beat up on her a bit.”

“Yangggg.”

“Ok, ok, I won’t! But if you’re crying, no promises.”

After sharing a grin, Ruby leaned into her sister’s shoulder for a firm sideways hug and kiss on the head.

“So when ya gonna tell her?” Yang teased, making Ruby let out a big sigh as they walked back into the house together.

“I have no idea…”

It had taken her an entire day to work up the courage to ask a somewhat related question. How long would it take her to come right out and tell Weiss how she felt?

‘Hey Weiss, I kinda, sorta, maybe like you. Like you, like you.’

When they walked into the living room, Ruby saw that Weiss had come in from the garage and was talking to Blake about something. Maybe it was the sound of footsteps, but something caused both of them to turn towards Ruby and Yang at the same moment. Leaving Ruby behind, Yang walked right over to Blake and pulled her into a loving hug, burying her face in the crook of Blake’s neck.

“Oh, hey there,” Blake murmured in surprise before lifting a hand to gently run through Yang’s hair.

Weiss didn’t seem to notice the two. Instead, her attention was solely for Ruby as she stared with clear blue eyes that seemed to finish the incomplete smile resting on her lips. Chills ran up and down Ruby’s arms, and her skin tingled with happiness for no other reason than that Weiss was right there - within reach. The best part was that Weiss looked just as happy to see Ruby too - as if they’d been apart for a really long time even though it was only a few minutes.

And suddenly...Ruby understood what Yang had been trying to explain.

Holy Grimm...Weiss might like her.

“I need to fix this! I’ll be right back!” Ruby said quickly while holding up Ember. Weiss barely managed to nod in response before Ruby raced into the garage and closed the door behind her. Taking deep breaths, she braced her back against the door like she might blow away in the nonexistent wind, while her heart threatened the beat out of her chest and run a few marathons unsupervised.

Weiss might like her though! Her! Ruby - the awkward one? Yeah, her. How had that happened? Who cared! If it was true…

If it was true, then Weiss liked her - and Ruby already knew that she liked Weiss - so they liked each other! Ok, so what was supposed to happen next?

Ruby needed to tell Weiss how she felt. Ah, shoot. Did that mean she should start thinking of some elaborate plan to ask Weiss out - like what Yang had done with Blake?

Did this mean that Weiss wanted to...kiss Ruby too?

Someone must’ve glued wings to Ruby’s feet because she nearly flew over to the workbench to fix Ember Celica. Tossing Yang’s weapon down, she found the proper tools to pry it open and started unscrewing some of the parts to fix the jam. By now, she’d taken the gauntlets apart and put them back together so many times she could probably do it with her eyes closed. Which was good because her mind was reeling at the moment.

Ok, one thing at a time. Just one thing at a time. First, she’d train as hard as possible for the Beacon Invite. Then, after the Invite was over, she could plan a way to ask Weiss out. Or to just confess all of these butterfly-y feelings fluttering through her chest.

What if Weiss asked her first???

Focus, Ruby! Beacon Invite first, then Weiss. Maybe she could invite Weiss to the Invite.

Lame. She should keep thinking. And maybe stop smiling like an idiot.

Or just keep thinking.

#RWBY #White Rose #Weiss Schnee #Ruby Rose #What Defines Us

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