What Defines Us - Chapter 24 (Patreon)

If anyone wanted to see the phrase ‘helicopter parent’ in action, they could come over and experience the combined helicopterness of Yang, Blake, and Weiss.  It was incredible!  The loud whomp whomp whomp of spinning blades filled the air, following Ruby wherever she went - into the garage, into the kitchen, even in the bathroom she could hear it!  Well, not really because it wasn’t a real sound, but it was practically a sound by now!

Blake and/or Yang hardly left her side and, if they did, she could still feel one of them watching her closely.  Or trying to not closely watch her closely.  Like maybe she wouldn’t notice them pretending to read or watch a movie while keeping an eye on her instead.  And maybe she wouldn’t notice how they kind of stalked her around the house.  

The forever-stalking was extra creepy at night with Blake’s glowy cat eyes.  Once or twice, Ruby made the mistake of glancing down the hallway on her way to bed and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw glowing eyes in the distance.  They either belonged to Blake or a ghost, but she was too scared to find out which!  

On top of the Glue Crew (Ruby’s new nickname for Yang and Blake since they stuck to her like glue), Weiss was sending nearly constant messages asking how Ruby was doing.  Seriously, Weiss checked in at least once every hour, sometimes twice every hour.  

Not that Ruby minded the extra attention from Weiss...it was nice that they were thinking about each other so often!  Maybe Weiss was primarily worried about Ruby’s health and wellbeing, but Ruby could pretend that that was the same thing...she was great at pretending things.

But seriously, she’d had the equivalent of a bad headache!  And then she might’ve passed out or whatever, and they might’ve had to use the little laser on her again - but come on!  A pack of ice and pat on the back probably would’ve had her up and running in no time.  Nope!  She had to go to the hospital and that meant more tests and medicine and yadda yadda.  The doctors used big words that she didn’t understand, so she spent most of her time nodding even though she had no idea what they were talking about.  Why couldn’t they just call her brain a brain?  Why were there different names for simple things?

Now she was perfectly fine, but everyone was treating her like she might explode at any minute.  Apparently, she’d earned a new nickname - Ticking Time Bomb Ruby.  

Why wasn’t she in charge of her own nicknames?  She was way better at coming up with them than Yang.

On the slightly-really horrible side, after talking to the doctor Yang had banned Ruby from any and all physical activity for the next few days.  Which sucked!  But it was just a precaution to make sure her brain shrank a bit before she worked it up again.  Who would’ve thought people would wish for her brain to shrink?  Certainly not her grade school teachers…

Barred from physical activity, forced to get a decent amount of sleep every night, and given another pill bottle to add to her tower.  This one would be a cinch - no side effects, only a handful of pills, no problem!  She could take them all at once!  But that was highly not recommended.  

There was good news in the midst of the crummy news though!  

Unlike before - when Ruby had to twiddle her thumbs when she wasn’t allowed to train - now she had a friend to talk to!  Thankfully, Weiss seemed more than happy to chat whenever Ruby wanted, so her days of mandatory rest would pass quickly.  And, as soon as the time was up, she was going to beg Blake to practice with her again.  After going on one hunt, she wanted to go on more.  A somewhat-suspect brain wasn’t enough to stop her!

Glancing at the time, Ruby tossed her scroll on the bed and headed out of her room so she could catch Blake and Yang before they left for the night.  Once in the hallway, she walked to the kitchen.  Walked.

Walking was soooo slowwww.  It was such a waste of time!  If she moved faster, she’d get to the kitchen faster and have more time to do other things!  But Yang had specifically banned Ruby from using her semblance and had even set a speed limit in the house - anything more than a walk and Ruby had to organize all of Yang’s shoes, which was not something she ever wanted to do.  

So she was walking everywhere.  And they didn’t need a bigger house because this one was already way too freaking big.  

When she finally made it to the kitchen (about a decade later), she found Blake and Yang putting away the dishes from dinner.  Well, Blake was putting away dishes while Yang held onto her and whispered into her ear, making her laugh about something.

“The doctors didn’t permanently attach your hand to Blake, did they?” Ruby joked, drawing their attention her way.

“Why yes they did,” Yang replied with a grin, refusing to remove her hand from Blake’s side.  When Blake tried to move away, Yang clasped onto a handful of her shirt to keep her in place.  “They said it was medically necessary for my survival.  And ya know what?  I’ve never felt better.”  

Ruby rolled her eyes at Yang’s overjoyed smile.  Her sister was impossible to tease, as usual.  No matter what Ruby said, Yang could always turn it around and make it some sort of weird compliment.  

But something was up with them.  They’d been extra fond of each other recently...and that was saying something since they were normally extra fond of each other.

“What’s up with you two?” Ruby asked after Yang stole a kiss while Blake wasn’t paying attention, making her ears twitch in surprise.

“What do you mean?” Blake asked, her cheeks blushing a soft red.

“You're like...extra lovey-dovey with each other.”

“I’m not allowed to love my girlfriend?” Yang asked, sharing a warm smile with Blake.

Shaking her head, Ruby decided that she probably didn’t want to know what was up with them.  For all she knew, they were celebrating some sort of anniversary that should not be shared with siblings or any other family members.  No thanks.  Her ears didn’t need to bleed today!  Then they’d probably rush her back to the hospital, and they’d have to start this whole thing all over again.

“How are you feeling?”  Somehow, Blake managed to peel her attention away from Yang just long enough to ask Ruby that question.

“Good as new!”  Flashing two thumbs up, Ruby grinned.  “I feel like I could run a whole marathon and not get tired!”

“That’s great!  Cuz I’ve been meaning to organize my shoes forever.”  

Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister when Yang laughed.

“I’m not gonna run around!  But I feel fine,” Ruby added before glancing at the clock over the stove.  “Shouldn’t you be leaving soon?  I thought the concert was in an hour!”

“It is.  And yes, we should be,” Blake answered before giving Yang a playful shove towards their room.

Tonight was the night of the Achievemen concert Weiss gave Yang tickets to.  Thankfully, Blake had convinced Yang not to blast the albums on repeat all day long - something about how Blake didn’t want Yang to ‘wear out’ the songs before they heard the live versions.  And there may have been a more violent threat whispered right after that, but it had been too low for Ruby to hear.  It made Yang more than willing to agree though!

“This is gonna be the best night ever,” Yang said with a smile.  “Just me, Blake, and backstage passes to meet the Achievemen.  We’ll be close enough to see them sweat!  Isn’t that awesome??”

The look on Blake’s face said that that was not at all awesome, but she nodded anyway.  

When Yang got excited like this, her mood was impossible to dampen.  A fire hose wouldn’t even be enough to calm her down.  Ruby would love to try that out though, just in case.  But it probably wouldn’t work, and then Yang would be mad that Ruby sprayed her with a fire hose.

“We even get to meet them after the show!  Gonna get some autographs for sure,” Yang continued happily.  “Next time you’ve gotta come, Ruby.  You’d have a -”

The sentence abruptly cut off as Yang’s smile fell.

“Oh shoot!  We need someone to watch Ruby if we’re gonna be gone!” Yang said, turning to Blake with an expression of concern.

“Yangggg, come on - I don’t need a babysitter!” Ruby whined.  “I can take care of myself!”

“Uh huh...and what’re you gonna do if your brain tries to explode itself again?” Yang retorted.  

“I’m pretty sure that won’t happen!”

“How sure?”

“I’m not a doctor!” Ruby replied, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.  

Following the conversation, Blake tapped her fingers thoughtfully against the countertop before intervening.

“I’m sure Weiss would be willing to come over,” she suggested.  Ruby’s eyes widened at the idea - which was genius.  Leave it to Blake to figure out the best solution ever.

“That’d be pretty cool if Weiss came over!” Ruby quipped, her happy endorsement making Yang smirk.

“Oh really?  What was all that whining for then?”

Furrowing her brow, Ruby nodded her head as if she was seriously pondering her sister’s words.  “I’ve reconsidered that, and...I think it would be a good idea to have someone here.  Just in case.”

When Blake shook her head and Yang laughed, Ruby couldn’t help but smile.

“Ok, short stack.”  Yang reached out and tried to rustle Ruby’s hair, but Ruby successfully dodged out of the way.  “Why don’t you see if Weiss can come over now?”

Grinning at the question, she almost used her semblance to blast to her room to retrieve her scroll.  But she didn’t.  She walked quickly.  Which was still so freaking slow.  At this pace, the concert would be over by the time she reached her room, and then she’d never get to see Weiss.

It took a gazillion steps to get out of the kitchen and another quadrillion to make it down the hall, but she eventually made it to her room.  Grabbing her scroll off the bed, she typed out a quick message.

‘Blake and Yang won’t leave for the concert unless someone is here to watch me.  Can you come over?’

She only waited a few seconds for Weiss’ response to arrive - a very succinct ‘On my way.’  Weiss always had such concise answers.  Even her messages were tidy - it was cute!  

Er, it was...interesting.  Which apparently meant the same thing as cute these days.

Beaming at what had unexpectedly become an awesome evening, Ruby decided to keep the scroll with her so that she wouldn’t have to cross Remnant to get it again.  After another full day of walking, she flounced into the living room and caught her sister and Blake at the end of a kiss.  

“She’s on her way!” Ruby announced, but her presence did nothing to put space between them.  

Jeez...what happened to the days when they’d separate a little bit?  Not that she cared - they were in love and happy.  It was just weird to remember that there was actually a time when they’d acted completely different around her.  

A lot had changed since then.  

Ending the kiss and playing with Blake’s hair, Yang smirked and rolled her eyes at Ruby’s news.  “Of course she’ll drop everything to get here right away...” she muttered.

“But someone will be here to watch Ruby,” Blake replied, taking Yang’s hand and pulling her towards their bedroom.  “So now we can get ready to leave.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone is excited to see the Achievemen!” Yang called out, allowing Blake to pull her down the hallway.  Ruby laughed at the idea that anyone but Yang liked that band, but she couldn’t hear Blake’s muffled response.  She could imagine it though!  It was probably something super clever and witty like ‘ha, you wish’ or ‘yeah, right’ or…

There was a reason why Blake was the witty one and not Ruby.  She sucked at being witty under pressure!

Since it would take another year or two to walk to her room and back, Ruby hopped up onto the kitchen counter and waited for Weiss to get there.  Because Weiss was coming over!  Ruby had planned on spending her alone time in the workshop, but this was way better!

Even though they’d been in near constant communication via scroll, Ruby hadn’t seen Weiss since the hospital.  That was only a couple of days ago, but it felt like they’d been apart forever.  Sending messages was nice, but it was nothing compared to hanging out in person!  A message didn’t have Weiss’ voice or her eyes...that would be really weird if they did though.  Oh!  They could video message!  Although Ruby had to wonder if Weiss would be ok doing that.  It wouldn’t be an option when Weiss was at work or doing something important, but maybe at other times?

Waiting for the time to pass, Ruby swung her feet and traced her fingers along the scar on her wrist.  It had been a long time since her arm really hurt.  Sometimes there was a slight achiness in it when she overused it, but even that was disappearing with time.  The scar would never disappear though, which was fine with her.  It gave her something to remember the injury by since she didn’t have the actual memories of it.  Plus, scars were supposedly attractive, right?  She’d heard Yang say something about that once...and she definitely agreed when thinking about the small scar that ran across Weiss’ eye.

Amongst all the interesting things Ruby had ever learned, one of the most interesting was how interesting Weiss was!  She was basically...all thought-consuming.  For the longest time, Ruby had had such a one track mind - it was training, training, training, and nothing else.  Then bam!  Weiss walked into their life, and suddenly she was all Ruby could think about.

Ok, Weiss hadn’t walked in with a bam.  The door hadn’t made any sort of noise.  And maybe it was more appropriate to say that Ruby now had a two-track mind.  One track was reserved for training and becoming a huntress, but the other was exclusively for Weiss.  Because Weiss was very, very...interesting.

Hearing Blake and Yang’s voices carrying out of the hall, Ruby looked up from her wrist.  The two were dressed for a night on the town, as Yang liked to call it.  Walking into the living room, they rummaged through the hallway closet for whatever shoes they were going to wear to the concert.

“Jeez Ruby - waiting for someone?” Yang teased while indiscriminately tossing several miscellaneous shoes out of the closet.

“It takes forever to walk anywhere!” Ruby complained, kicking her feet in exasperation.  

“It only feels like forever because you’re used to moving twice as fast as regular people do,” Blake commented with an amused expression.  Somehow, she’d already found her shoes and put them on when Ruby hadn’t noticed.

“Welcome to how the rest of the world feels!” Yang added with a cheeky grin.

“It sucks,” Ruby moped from the countertop.  “You’re all so slow.”

Chuckling at the response, Blake walked over to the front door and opened it - revealing Weiss just stepping up onto the front porch.  Not at all surprised that she hadn’t been able to knock, Weiss merely looked at Blake and shook her head in admiration.

“Hey Weiss,” Blake said with a sly smile as Ruby let out an ‘eep!’ and jumped down from the counter to greet their guest.

“Weiss!” she called out, meeting Weiss right inside the front door and pulling her into a quick hug.  “I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Yes, we’re all very fortunate you could make it,” Blake added with a grin while handing Yang the second shoe she’d been searching for. 

“Aha!” Yang exclaimed as she took it and slid it onto her foot.  After checking her pockets and bag for the tickets, she gave Blake a thumbs up.  “Now I’m ready!”

“Guess we can finally leave,” Blake teased, taking Yang’s hand and heading towards the door.  “Getting you there on time will be an achievemen-t of its own.”

When Ruby groaned, Yang laughed and pulled Blake close to place a kiss between her ears.

“Have I mentioned that I love you today?  Because I totally love you,” Yang remarked with a big grin before finally acknowledging Weiss’ presence.  Her smile fell a bit, but she cleared her throat and spoke first.

“Uh, thanks for the tickets, Weiss,” she said, lifting her hand in a loose fist and making a motion like she wanted Weiss to bump it with her own.  Weiss didn’t understand the gesture at first, but eventually caught on and lightly tapped her knuckles against Yang’s.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, managing a small smile of her own as Yang stepped outside with Blake.

“Oh yes, thank you for encouraging this unhealthy obsession,” Blake teased.

“Just wait, Blake.  By the end of the night, you’ll be begging me for their albums.”

“Yes, so that I can burn them.”  

Chuckling, Yang suddenly stopped and turned back to the house, pointing a finger towards Ruby and then Weiss.

“And you two - don’t do anything Blake and I wouldn’t do.”

“There are actually things you won’t do?” Ruby joked.  

After making a face at Ruby, Yang pulled the door shut with a “Be back later!”

Left alone in the house, but still able to hear the two girls talking outside, Weiss turned and smiled at Ruby.  Ruby’s excitement immediately shot through the ceiling - because Weiss was here!  They got to spend the night together!  Or like, maybe not the night, but at least until the concert ended.

“How are you feeling?” Weiss asked first.  About an hour had passed since she’d asked that question, so it was exactly what Ruby expected.

“Perfectly peachy!” she replied with a big grin.  “Absolutely amazing!  Fantastically fantastic!  Extra uh...excellent!”

Weiss pursed her lips at the slew of words.

“I’ve been asking that too much, haven’t I,” she said, her clear blue eyes saying that she already knew the answer to that question.

“Nope!  Well, yeah, a lot, but I totally don’t mind!”  Using her best ‘totally not minding’ face, Ruby successfully erased the concern from Weiss’.

“Well, how about I ask you a different question then?” Weiss asked with a hint of a smile that had Ruby hanging onto every word.  “What would you like to do now?”

“Something Yang and Blake wouldn’t do!” Ruby immediately answered, throwing her hands up in the air in excitement.  “So...clean, maybe?”

The joke made Weiss laugh - and Ruby really liked it when Weiss laughed.  There was something so rewarding in seeing light blue eyes sparkle with joy and, for a brief moment, catching a glimpse of a different person - the cheerful, less poised version of Weiss peeking through every expression of true happiness.   

If only there were a way to get Weiss to laugh more...then maybe that other version of her could stick around longer...

Oh!  Ruby happened to know an extra-awesome and super-effective way to make someone to laugh oodles.  Duh, why hadn’t she thought about this before?  It was only something Yang did to Ruby all the time.

“I have an idea.”

“Really?  What is it?”

Weiss’ willingness to hear the idea was super adorable, but Ruby didn’t need to say it out loud. Instead,  she raised her hands and wiggled her fingers in the universal ‘I’m gonna tickle you’ gesture.  Eyes instantly widening in recognition, Weiss took several steps away.

“Ruby…” Weiss’ voice was low with warning while she inched towards the living room.  “Don’t you dare.”

When Ruby grinned and stepped forward, Weiss took another step back to match.  But Weiss was backing into the living room, where there was very little opportunity to escape.  The furniture would work perfectly in Ruby’s favor - allowing her to pen the girl in.  And if she could get Weiss to the sofa, she would win.  Ruby knew all of this from personal experience - on the losing side of things, of course.

Frozen in a draw, each of them waited for the other to make the first move.  It was just like sparing!  One of them had to move first, and the other would try to react in time.

Grinning at the comparison, Ruby decided to make the first move.  She faked a step forward and to the left, which Weiss instantly reacted to, but Ruby was expecting that reaction.  Planting her foot on the ground and quickly pivoting the other direction, she just barely managed to reach out and wrap her arms around Weiss before she slipped out of reach.  Spinning around, Weiss tried to escape backwards, but all she managed to do was drag Ruby right along with her as they both collapsed awkwardly onto the sofa - which played right into Ruby’s advantage.  

As soon as they hit the soft cushions, Ruby unwrapped her arms from around Weiss’ waist and tickled Weiss’ rib cage - by far the most ticklish spot for most people. 

And, interestingly enough, Weiss was ‘most people.’  She let out the most adorable squeal Ruby had ever heard while struggling to get away from the tickling fingers.

“Ruby!  You -!”

When Weiss’ words dissolved into uncontrollable laughter, Ruby grinned and continued the relentless onslaught of tickles.  Weiss looked so happy right now, even as she squirmed and tried to free herself.  But there was no way she was getting away from Ruby - Ruby was the tickle master-in-training!  Or more of an apprentice.

Wiggling her fingers in between Weiss’ ribs, Ruby laughed as she dodged a flailing arm that almost whacked her in the head.  She should’ve tickled Weiss way earlier!

“Alright!  You -!” Weiss gasped before a few more giggles escaped.  “R-Ruby you win!”

Hearing the magic word, Ruby immediately stopped and grinned down at Weiss, satisfied with the victory.

“God, Ruby - you...dolt,” Weiss huffed, trying to regain her breath while a soft red colored her cheeks.  “You’re...trying to kill me…”

Even though Weiss was pretending to be annoyed, she was still smiling.

Weiss was really pretty when she smiled - a real smile and not those guarded ones she normally used.  Like, she was really, really pretty.  And when she was lightly panting through slightly parted lips, staring up at Ruby with intent blue eyes that seemed to see right through her, with the two of them intertwined on the sofa...it almost felt like Ruby could - or she should - lean down, closing the small gap between them and -

Coughing into her hand to clear that sudden thought from her mind, Ruby refocused on Weiss.  On Weiss’ eyes, not her lips.

“Death by tickles, huh?” Ruby asked, sitting up in order to put some space between them and bury the random craving she’d just had.

“It’s possible,” Weiss replied with a serious expression as she sat up, too.

“Nuh uh -”

“Yes ‘huh,’ it’s happened before.”

Giggling, Ruby patted Weiss on the shoulder.  “I’m not falling for that one!”

“Want to look it up?”  

A smirk accompanied the question - marking it as a challenge.  Ruby’s resolve wavered at the look.  If Weiss was willing to look it up, maybe she was right.  Or...maybe she was bluffing and hoped Ruby wouldn’t catch her.  But that would be tricky.  Was Weiss tricky?

Staring at Weiss for what felt like forever, Ruby searched icy blue eyes that were much warmer than their color implied.  There had to be a hint in there somewhere...something that gave away whether or not Weiss was bluffing…

When Ruby narrowed her eyes, Weiss playfully narrowed hers in turn.  

If Weiss was lying, what would give it away?  Would it be in her eyes?  Would they slightly squint or change color?  Would her pupils be a little bigger than usual, or would she have the tiniest hint of a smile?

Suddenly stumbling over the answer, Ruby beamed in delight.  There was one.  Weiss had a tell! 

“Ok,” Ruby replied, sitting nice and straight on the sofa cushion.  “Let’s look it up then.”

Weiss was good.  Very composed.  She hardly flinched at Ruby’s words, but when Ruby reached for Weiss’ scroll to put this matter to rest, a hand shot out to stop her.

“Wait.”  

Ruby beamed at the single word, ready to accept her tiny triumph while Weiss looked baffled at how her bluff had been called.

“Alright, you got me.  How did you know?”

“You have a tell, Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed, more excited about finding that than about being right.  But her words only made Weiss blink in confusion.

“A...tell?”

“Yeah!  A tell - like something you do when you’re lying!  I just figured it out!”

“What??” Weiss asked in shock.  “I do not have a tell.”

“You totally do!”

“Then what is it?”

Sensing the trap and successfully hopping over it instead of falling into it, Ruby shook her head - sending her hair flying all over the place.

“No way - I’m not telling you!  Then you’ll just stop doing it!”

“But...you have to tell me!”

“Why?” she asked, laughing at Weiss’ miffed expression.

“Because!  I...you...you just should!”

“That’s super not convincing!” Ruby replied gleefully.  “But maybe you can persuade me to part with my secrets?”  When Ruby playfully batted her eyes, Weiss looked more shocked than anything else.

“How?”

“I dunno.  What’s something really awesome that I might want?”  

When the question made Weiss blush and turn away, Ruby’s cheeks warmed up too.  Had Weiss just thought about what Ruby had just thought about?  Or something completely different?  Something better?

What had Weiss just thought??

“I’m not sure…” Weiss mumbled before turning back to Ruby - the moment of indecision already gone and replaced by a more assured persona.  “One million chocolate chip cookies.”

Ruby burst into giggles at the offer.  Because yes, that was amazing and yes, that was something she’d want, but also because Weiss looked so serious about it!  Like this was some business deal and she’d literally hand over a million cookies in exchange for the information.

But Ruby couldn’t be bought so easily!  Well, maybe normally she could, but not this time!

“Noooo thank you!”

The reply made Weiss’ mouth fall open in surprise.

“You’re turning down a million cookies,” she stated in disbelief while Ruby nodded, pleased with her random thread of self-control.

“Yup!  I think this information is much more valuable than that.  Plus, I don’t think I could eat them all before they went bad!”

Maybe she could, but that was an awful lot of cookies.  What would that even look like?  Would they fill her room?  The whole house?  The neighborhood would probably smell like heaven!  How much milk would she need to eat that many cookies?  They’d have to get their own cow!  She’d name him Herman.  Wait - did boy cows make milk?

While Ruby contemplated the logistics of receiving one million cookies, Weiss tapped one finger against her knee, furrowed her brow, and bit her lip in the most adorable display of concentration as she tried to figure out how to pry the information from Ruby.

“What do you want…?”  

The question wasn’t directed at Ruby - it was more like Weiss said it to herself while trying to find the answer in Ruby’s eyes.  

What did Ruby want?  She wanted a lot of things!  But knowing when Weiss was trying to lie would probably be super valuable.  Maybe she’d be willing to exchange the information for…

Instantly blushing when her brain jumped to something she would absolutely give up the secret for, Ruby averted her eyes and blew a puff of air through her lips.  

Why was that her answer?  Why was she thinking about that so much right now?  Hopefully Weiss’ superpowers didn’t include mind reading.  Otherwise Ruby was in for a world of first-class embarrassment right...about…

Now.

When Weiss’ finger kept tapping her knee and nothing else happened, Ruby grinned and wrapped her arms around her legs.

“I can’t think of anything!” she remarked.  It was a fib.  A big, fat one.  There was one thing she couldn’t stop thinking of right now, but there was no way she could ask for that!  No, she’d just keep the information safe and sound for now.

“Nothing?”

“Nope!  Plus, I like knowing something about you that no one else does.  Even you!”  

That last part was the truth.  Knowing this information made Ruby special, and she really, really liked the idea that she was special - at least, she wanted to be special when it came to Weiss.

Tilting her head to one side, Weiss stared at Ruby for a long time.  Obviously, she hadn’t expected Ruby to be so difficult to crack.  Which was probably smart thinking - it wasn’t every day Ruby found the resolve to turn down a million cookies!  She’d probably take that deal ninety-nine times out of a hundred.  Weiss was just unlucky tonight.

“But maybe I’ll tell you one day!” Ruby added with a grin.  Weiss stared for a few more seconds before smiling and shaking her head.

“You’re obviously feeling better.”

“Yup!  I’m great!”

“Good.  Because I really don’t want to take you to the hospital again.”

“And you’re telling the truth!” Ruby added playfully, making Weiss’ eyes narrow in thought once more.

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“You think I’d turn down a million cookies and then just hand this priceless knowledge out for nothing??  No way!”  Shaking her head, Ruby added, “They’d have to offer me something better!”

“Such as…?”

“Uh, such as…”  Racking her brain, she tried to come up with anything that could possibly be better.  It was really hard!  Weiss had nailed that offer even if Ruby hadn’t accepted it.

“Yang would have to shave her head!” Ruby said before laughing at how funny it would be to see her sister with no hair.  “Oh!  Or, Blake would have to let me take Gambol Shroud apart and tinker with him for an entire - three days!”

That last one was quite enticing, too!  

Chuckling lightly, Weiss shook her head.

“So never.”

“Basically.  It’s cookies or bust.”

Satisfied with that answer, Weiss nodded and leaned against the sofa.  Ruby collapsed backwards too, grinning all the while.  Being around Weiss was always really fun and...easy.  It was kind of weird because they hadn’t known each other that long, but they were already pretty comfortable around one another!  Maybe they hadn’t known each other for years like some friends did, but that didn’t matter, right?  As long as they had a good time together, they could be great friends!

This ‘making friends’ thing was easier than she’d thought.  It probably helped that Weiss already knew Yang, but Ruby would take all the help she could get.

With their shoulders barely touching, Ruby waited for a few seconds in silence before deciding that she needed to say something.  She was the host, after all!  It was important to keep guests entertained and not bore them to death.  And it was possible to bore someone to death - look it up!

“So we did what I wanted to do...now what do you wanna do?” she asked, shifting in her seat to look at Weiss.

“I thought I was supposed to watch you.”

“You’re just going to sit there and look at me?”

Smiling, Weiss shrugged at the question.  “Sure, that wouldn’t bother me one bit.  But is there anything else you’d like to do?”

That was a great question.  What did Ruby want to do?  There were so many choices!  The world was their oyster!  Except that they probably shouldn’t leave the house, and Ruby wasn’t allowed to do anything more physical than shuffle her feet across the floor.  

The world was their slightly-restricted oyster!

There were still lots of great options though.  They could go for a walk around the house - that would take them into next century.  Or they could go into the garage and work on something  - maybe Weiss would want to work on a project with Ruby?  That’d be cool!  Or they could hide Yang’s shoes outside.  Or...

“Oh!” Ruby exclaimed when an idea popped into her head.  “I know!  We can practice my hand-eye coordination!  Can you use your glyph-things to throw stuff at me?  Do they work like that?”

When Ruby hopped off the sofa, Weiss’s eyes followed her.

“Yes...but throw what ‘stuff’ at you?”  

“Um…” Unsure about an answer, Ruby glanced around.  What was small and a good projectile?  

Leaving the sofa behind, she walked into the kitchen and started opening drawers in search of something to use.  “Aha!” she remarked in success, pulling a handful of silverware out of the drawer and turning back to Weiss.  “How ‘bout these?”

Looking from the silverware to Ruby and back again, Weiss’ expression was one of pure incredulity.

“Let me get this straight...Yang made you invite me over to make sure you don’t end up back in the hospital, but you want me to shoot knives at you and hope you can catch them before they impale you?”

“Yeah!”

Smiling, Weiss shook her head.  “No...I’m not going to do that.”

Her balloon of excitement deflating, Ruby dropped the silverware onto the table as Weiss stood and joined her in the kitchen.  Moving with an air of determination, Weiss methodically searched through the drawers herself before pulling open the fridge and rummaging around inside.  A few seconds later, she emerged with a bag of grapes in hand.

“I would be willing to throw these at you though,” she said with a pleased grin.

See?  This was why Weiss was so much smarter than Ruby.

“Yes!”

Pumping one fist in victory, Ruby slowly and carefully made her way back to the living room and stood in front of the television.  Ok, that was a lie.  She kind of, sort of ran-hopped.  But Yang wasn’t around to say whether or not it was too fast.  A speed limit was useless unless there was a cop around to hand out tickets!

That didn’t mean Ruby was dumb enough to use her semblance though.  One runaway petal and she’d be as good as caught red-handed.

With Ruby in place, Weiss took a seat on the sofa and set the bag of grapes on the cushion beside her (the coffee table had yet to be replaced after its unfortunate accident).  Carefully plucking one grape out of the bag, she held it up for Ruby to see.

“Are you ready?” 

Rubbing her hands together, Ruby nodded and focused on the small, green orb between Weiss’ fingers.  Nodding in return, Weiss tossed the grape towards Ruby in a slow, meandering arc.  

Ruby was about to complain that that was way too easy - then a white/blue glyph appeared out of nowhere.  The instant the grape hit the glyph’s surface, it shot off at a completely different angle and nailed Ruby in the side like a friendly version of a mini rocket.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, watching the grape roll away from her before turning back to Weiss.  “That was super fast!”

“Did you think I’d take it easy on you?”

Stunned by the response, Ruby looked at the grape on the floor before grinning at Weiss.  There was a playful sparkle in Weiss’ eyes that suggested Ruby should’ve known better than to expect such an easy game.

Well, she knew better now!

“Ok,” she said, bending her knees and raising her hands in preparation.  “I’m really ready this time.  No more drops!”

Nodding, Weiss held another grape up so Ruby could see.  This time Ruby made sure to focus all her attention on the tiny orb - every single bit of focus she had in her entire body.  

In not-really slow motion, Weiss drew her hand back and let it fly.

Determined to catch this one, Ruby pinpointed the grape in the air and figured out its trajectory - but the game didn’t stop there.  At the first glimpse of white, she locked onto the glyph as it appeared and determined the angle it was pointing in relation to the grape.  As soon as the two met, Ruby shot her hand out to where she anticipated the grape would go and closed her fingers around the squishy object.

“Aha!” she cried out in success, holding up the grape in victory.  

“Good job,” Weiss congratulated her with a smile.

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed, hopping with joy.  “Blake’s gotta watch out - she’s not the only ninja anymore!  Ruby Rose is the sneakiest of sneaky in this house now!”  

Ruby waved her hands around like a ninja - making karate chops in the air - before a small object bounced off her side.  Looking around in surprise and finding another grape rolling away, she turned back to the sofa and found Weiss trying to stifle her laughter.

“Looks like you missed one, Miss Ninja.”

Playfully narrowing her eyes, Ruby popped the grape into her mouth and raised her hands at the ready. 

“Oh, you think you’re soooo good at throwing grapes and stuff?” she teased.  “Bring it on!”

“You’re not ready for this.”

“I totally am!  You’re not ready for this!”

When Weiss arched one brow at the lame comeback, Ruby shook her head.

“Or something more witty than that!  Just - let’s see what you’ve got!”

Waving her hands around like the world’s most skilled goalkeeper, Ruby watched Weiss prepare for the next round of this battle between two equally matched foes.  Equally matched, as in one of them was not better than the other.

Maybe Ruby should be concerned by the handful of grapes Weiss was holding in one hand...but she wasn’t!  She was slick as a ninja!  Quick as a cat!  More Blake references!

Squeaking in surprise when Weiss threw not one but two grapes in the air, Ruby watched as two glyphs pointing in different directions successfully pelted both grapes into her on opposite sides.

Ok, so Weiss was pretty good at this.  

“Lucky shot!” Ruby called out before ducking as a grape whizzed over her head.

She managed to catch one out of the next three grapes thrown her way, but the moment she paused to say “Aha!” two more ricocheted off of her back.  Her back!  Tossing the grape at Weiss - who deftly dodged out of the way - Ruby yelped while trying to catch two more, but they flew into her instead.

If this was a competition, Weiss was winning.  It wasn’t even close.  But it was still equally matched.

Ruby was going to catch the next one, but then the glyph rotated at the last second and sent the grape spinning off of her shoulder.  And the next grape stuck to the glyph for a half second longer than expected, the white patterns swirling together before firing the grape like a shot out of a cannon.

Every time Ruby squealed when a grape hit her, Weiss laughed.  And every time Weiss laughed, Ruby couldn’t help but laugh too.  

Laughing made it a lot harder to focus on the flying missiles, but she started having more success after the first dozen or so grapes.  Whenever she managed to catch one, she’d throw it at Weiss - only for it to fly right back at twice the speed.  

She was losing the battle and the war, but it didn’t matter when she was having so much fun.  

“Ok!” she finally called out, raising her hands in surrender (which only exposed her ribs for Weiss to hit with two last-second grapes).  “Ok, I give up!  You win!”

Slowly lowering her hands, Ruby beamed when she saw Weiss’ twinkling eyes and amused smile.

“So you’ve had enough?”

Ruby smiled when she saw the tease in Weiss’ eyes.  

Most of the time, Weiss was calm and collected.  But right now, she was...playful.  It was like she’d briefly let go of whatever plagued her and allowed herself to be happy and free.  

Playful, happy Weiss was now one of Ruby’s favorite things…

Looking at the floor littered with grapes, Ruby bent down to collect a handful for herself.

“Hey, it’s not that easy!” she replied while standing up with her ammunition.  “Why don’t you try?  Teach me your ways, oh wise one.”  

Ever a good sport, Weiss nodded and stood from the sofa.  Crouching slightly, she raised both hands like Ruby had just been doing.  After taking a brief moment to appreciate Weiss’ super cute expression of concentration, Ruby looked down at the grapes in her hand.

She didn’t have super cool glyphs like Weiss did.  She had her speed, but that wasn’t helpful in this situation - not that she was allowed to use her semblance anyway.  But what she lacked in awesome glyphs, she made up for in ingenuity!

She could throw just one grape, but that wouldn’t be a challenge.  Two would also be pretty easy…

Fortunately, she had the element of surprise on her side - because she had a doozy of a plan!

Picking up a solitary grape, Ruby held it in her left hand and swung her arm back like she was going to throw it.  But, at the same moment she let that grape fly, she shot her other hand forward and threw the entire fistful of grapes at Weiss at once.  

It was brilliantly executed.

As was the glyph Weiss formed in front of her to capture all of the grapes in midair.  

Catching the flash of a smirk on Weiss’ lips, Ruby instinctively covered her head and turned as the grapes pelted into her - every single one of them bouncing off of her before falling to the floor.  

Only when the barrage ended did Ruby lower her hands and start giggling - looking over to the sofa to find Weiss laughing too.  And laughing Weiss was just...the best.

“How did you know I was gonna do that??” Ruby asked through her giggles, only for Weiss to smile and shrug.

“It seemed like something you would do.”

“Uh oh.”

“What?” Weiss asked, her expression quickly turning to one of concern.

“You know me too well,” Ruby concluded with a grin.  Relaxing, Weiss returned the grin with a smile - another one of those amazing smiles that reached her eyes and made them shine with joy.  

Ruby loved seeing that - she loved it when Weiss smiled so freely.  She loved it when Weiss relaxed and had fun.  And she loved being able to bring out this side of Weiss, if only for a few seconds at a time.

Ruby would’ve shared that smile forever, but Weiss eventually broke eye contact and looked at the mess of grapes on the floor.  As she did so, her walls slid back into place, and the carefree version of Weiss slipped away.

It was a fast change, and it left Ruby with a strange feeling of loss - but she wasn’t discouraged.  If Weiss was still here, there was nothing to be discouraged about.  

“Oh!  I have an idea!” Ruby said as a plan popped into her mind.  Runn - walking quickly to the fridge, she pulled out a carton before rushing back to the living room and pressing it into Weiss’ hands.  

“What’s way more awesome than grapes?” she asked, grinning at her genius idea.

Looking down at the carton in her hands, Weiss then looked at Ruby in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious -”

“Deadly serious!  Come on - it’ll be fun!”  Pressing her palms together, Ruby begged with her eyes - using the best set of puppy dog eyes she had.

After briefly biting her lip, Weiss fought back a smile while pulling two eggs from the carton and setting the rest on the floor by her feet.  Holding one of the fragile items up in the air, she gave Ruby a playfully serious expression that did little to mask her enjoyment of the situation.

“You’d better catch these.”

Taking the words as acceptance of the idea, Ruby giggled in delight while hopping over to her spot in front of the TV.

Honestly, she didn’t care if she caught the eggs or not.  All that mattered right now was that the happy version of Weiss was back.