Let's (finally) Make a Match (Patreon)

Turning away from the mirror (rolling her eyes in the process), Weiss set down her hairbrush and gave Yang a look of utmost patience.

“We’ve gone over this at least a hundred times already.”

“Yeah, but - you know - better safe than sorry!”

“You realize I got a perfect score on every entrance exam Beacon has?” Weiss pointed out, crossing her legs and watching Yang’s knee bounce with nerves.  “Memorizing three steps for this ‘master plan’ of yours is nothing.”

“Yeah, well, you tend to forget things,” Yang replied.  “How was your little date with Ruby, by the way? Did you get to first base, or what?”

Blushing at the memory, Weiss averted her gaze and picked an invisible piece of lint off her skirt.

“l don’t know what you’re talking about...”

“You know, that day you ditched me to go flower shopping with Ruby.”

With a full blush taking residence on her cheeks, Weiss huffed and ran a hand through her ponytail.

“We weren’t flower shopping.  We were looking at the different species of plants on campus.”

And it was a wonderful day.  Just her and Ruby perusing Beacon’s expansive grounds in search of new plants.  It wasn’t often they had an entire day to themselves - free of responsibilities - and even less often they could spend every moment intent upon each other.

Ruby’s childlike energy was infectious.  She marveled at the smallest things - things Weiss wrote off as mundane were a spectacle through Ruby’s eyes.  It was impossible to be in Ruby’s company and not have a great time, which was why Weiss’ cheeks hurt from smiling by the end of the day.

Admittedly, Weiss hadn’t known all the species of plants they found, so she made up a few names.  But hopefully Ruby wouldn’t double check or remember...

“Cut it out.”

When a light slap hit her knee, Weiss broke out of her thoughts and blushed deeper.

“What?” she asked, hearing a snap in her tone that always appeared when she was caught off guard.

“You’re doing that thing again - the Ruby-daze.”

“The Ruby…?  That’s not a thing.”

Laughing at the response, Yang shook her head and waved both hands through the air - effectively wiping that conversation away.

“I forgot - you’re delusional.  But come on, they’ll be back soon - let’s go over the plan one more time.”

Giving up on the argument with a sigh, Weiss tapped a finger on her thigh while thinking about their ‘plan.’  She wouldn’t call it much of a plan - it was more of a setup - but Yang was absurdly proud of it.  She was convinced that it would get her and Blake together while also pushing Weiss and Ruby closer to a relationship.

Weiss had serious doubts, but she’d promised to help Yang in her quest for Blake’s heart, so...

“Ok.  They get back from training, I bring up the tickets to the AchieveMen concert I happened to have forgetten about - even though I don’t forget things.”  Picking up the pair of tickets from the table, Weiss held them up for Yang to see.  “I invite Ruby -”

“In that Weiss-way you have,” Yang cut in, grinning at Weiss’ scowl.

The grin meant that Weiss shouldn’t ask for an elaboration.  She didn’t want to know.  Whatever it was, it would only make her react in a way that proved that Yang knew her pretty well.  And she rebelled against the idea that anyone knew her that well.

“What do you mean ‘Weiss-way?’” she asked anyway, because she had to know.

“You know - where you pretend you’re bored so everyone knows you don’t want to do whatever we’re supposed to do.”

“I don’t do that.” 

“Uh, yeah you do.”

“It’s not true, but whatever you think...”  Lazily waving the concert tickets through the air, Weiss heaved a big sigh before continuing with ‘the plan.’

“That’s it!” Yang added with a grin, looking far-too-pleased that she’d been proven correct.  Weiss, meanwhile, frowned but decided she’d move on lest she prove Yang even more right.  

“Anyway...I’ll offer Ruby the tickets but say that I know it’s not something she’ll want to do.  She’ll shrug and say, ‘Eh, not really...’ in that way she has, but she’ll still go if I want to go.” 

Weiss smiled at the last part - which was a fact of Ruby’s existence.  Even if Ruby didn’t want to do something, she’d go along with it if that’s what Weiss wanted.  It was a very sweet and kind personality trait, which was everything she’d come to expect from Ruby.

“Then I snatch the tickets,” Yang cut in, grabbing the tickets from Weiss’ hand before giving her a fake look of apology.  “Oh sorry - did I interrupt your pining?”

Rolling her eyes, Weiss waved her hand towards Yang.  

“You take the tickets and say that you’ll go with Blake - then you...”

“Then I tell Ruby I rented the new Zombie Slayers movie!” Yang added with a grin.  “No way she passes that up.  So you and Ruby cuddle up for some zombie fun while Blake and I rock out to some awesome tunes.”

When Yang grinned at the tickets in her hand, Weiss felt her brow furrow.

“You know, I am a little curious why this plan involved me buying tickets to your favorite band...”

“It’s the first thing that came to mind!” Yang explained while handing the tickets back to Weiss.  “They weren’t too expensive, were they?”

Sensing a layer of genuine concern underneath Yang’s jovial demeanor, Weiss sat back in her seat and scoffed - fully prepared to put Yang’s worries to rest.

“Please.  They were practically free.” 

“Right...they usually give away backstage passes,” Yang said, waving her hand as if it wasn’t a big deal before giving Weiss another honest smile.  “Thank you, though.”

“Of course.  I said I’d help you, and you’ve held up your end of the deal so far.”

“Damn straight I have!”  Slapping both hands on her knees, Yang beamed at her ‘success.’  “I’ve totally been talking to Ruby about sex and stuff nonstop - pretty sure she thinks there’s something wrong with me now.”

“And you’ve been spending more time alone with Blake recently,” Weiss pointed out, cursing her cheeks for heating up at Yang’s silly comment.

“Right!  We have - although…”  Yang’s eyes briefly unfocused, but she quickly snapped out of it.  “You’re right!  It’s been great.  Doesn’t matter what we talk about - I love spending time with her.”

The grin Yang wore at the moment had become a more frequent occurrence around their dorm room.  It was the Blake-grin, as Weiss thought of it - the smile that only appeared when Yang thought about Blake.

The moment the door opened, that grin turned into the Blake-beam - the huge smile that Yang nearly blinded everyone with whenever Blake walked into a room.

“I still think that’d be awesome!” Ruby chirped as she rushed inside, dropping Crescent Rose on the ground and spinning in a quick circle that sprayed rose petals everywhere.  Following at a more normal pace, Blake closed the door before leaning Gambol Shroud against the wall.

“You think everything involving my clones is awesome...”

“Because it is!  They are!” 

When Ruby beamed - a full dose of Ruby Sunshine - Blake smiled and shook her head.

Blake and Ruby were a strange combination - one of them unwilling to accept compliments, the other willing to spray them as far and wide as her petals.  The further into the school year they progressed, however, the more tolerant of the compliments Blake grew.  One of these days, she might just accept some of Ruby’s admiration.

Today, however, she brushed it off as she went to sit on her bed next to Yang.  Meanwhile, Weiss turned back to the stack of school supplies sitting on her bed, flipped open a folder, and let out a big sigh - one that would draw the room’s attention her way.

“Great...” she muttered while removing the two concert tickets (which were hidden in her hand the entire time).  “l forgot about these...”

As expected, Ruby immediately hopped over to see what Weiss was talking about.

“What are they?” 

“These concert tickets my father sent me,” Weiss said, waving them through the air and fighting a smile when Ruby’s eyes followed their path.  “They’re for this evening…”

“l know concerts aren’t your thing,” she added before Ruby responded.  “Not really mine, either - they’re always so loud...but would you want to go?” 

Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss caught Yang’s grin as she leaned forward - prepared to snatch the tickets away - but Ruby got there first.

“I’d love to!”

For a second, the room froze while the remnants of a ‘master plan’ crumbled to dust.  

“You...would?” Weiss asked, shooting a glance at Yang - who was currently suffering from the same amount of shock that she was.

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Ruby repeated, shooting a glance Blake’s way before beaming at Weiss.  “I mean, I just wanna spend time with you...I don’t really care what we do.”

Something about the way Ruby said the words was different from before.  Her voice was a little lower and softer - almost a whisper meant to stay between the two of them.  Her eyes still sparkled, but in a way that was more serious than her normal cheer.

The unexpected change was enough to send a flurry of butterflies through Weiss’ chest.

“Really?” she asked, immediately clearing her throat when she heard the breathy sound of her voice.  “I mean...you really want to go?  It would just be the two of us -”

“I’d like that though!  Uh, I mean - if you wanna go with me?” 

Weiss knew they had an audience, but she couldn’t turn away from Ruby’s eyes right now - not while she played the words over and over again in her mind.

Ruby wanted to spend time with her - and just her.  Ruby wanted to spend time with her so much, she didn’t care what they did - even if that meant they ended up at an AchieveMen concert together.

“Of course I do,” Weiss replied, smiling when Ruby broke into another grin.  “Let’s go.”

“Awesome!”  Ruby hopped in excitement - which only made Weiss’ smile grow - before her eyes widened.  “Oh, uh let me shower first?  I’ll be fast!”

Ruby only waited for a nod before racing into the bathroom, leaving the rest of the room frozen in her absence.  Only after Weiss heard the sound of a faucet did she turn and find that Yang was still shell-shocked by the rapid turn of events.  It was only when Blake bumped into Yang’s shoulder that she shook out of her daze.

“Told you it’d work,” Blake whispered, smiling when Yang shook her head one more time.

“Yeah, wow.  You must give one helluva pep talk.”

“I wouldn’t really call it a ‘pep talk,’” Blake started to say, but when Yang raised one brow, she shook her head and laughed.  “But yes.  Yes, I do.”

Satisfied with that answer, Yang smiled and softly clapped her hands together.  

“Well.  Looks like you got your date, Weiss.”

Blushing at the word, Weiss tried to play off how nervous it made her.  A date with Ruby - at a concert, no less.  That wasn’t at all how she’d envisioned their first date (or any of their dates) to go, but she should’ve known to expect the unexpected when it came to Ruby.

Not that it was officially a date!  Ruby only said that she’d love to spend some time with Weiss - which felt date-like, but the term was never used.  That was ok though.  The first step had been taken, now it was up to Weiss to make the rest of this evening feel like a date.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t fully enjoy this moment - not when she hasn’t yet fulfilled her half of the deal she’d made with Yang.  And no way was she letting Yang’s inability to ask someone out interfere with her night with Ruby.

“I guess I won’t be able to watch that movie with you, after all,” Weiss said, watching Yang’s eyes widen while Blake turned towards her.

“What movie?” Blake asked, her curiosity rising higher than usual - to a level reserved for Yang and Yang alone.

“Oh, uh, it’s just this zombie one I thought would be cool,” Yang muttered, running a hand through her hair and sending Weiss a glance out of the corner of her eye.  The expression pleaded for help - so much so that Weiss nearly laughed.

In almost any situation, Yang was the calm one.  The cool one.  The never-phased one.  But with Blake sitting beside her, and their knees just barely touching, Yang begged Weiss for help.

They were both rather helpless, it appeared.

“It sounded like fun,” Weiss added, even though she had no idea what the movie was about.  “Maybe you two should watch while we’re at the concert.”

The twitch in Blake’s ears gave away her interest, and Weiss grinned at Yang while a new plan formed - a better plan than their original one.

“Maybe order in some food,” she suggested.  “Make a night of it.”

Yang’s response was to look at Blake - and Blake’s response was to look at Yang.  It was so obvious that both of them wanted to say ‘yes,’ yet they insisted upon doing the shy, uncertain dance Weiss had all but perfected with Ruby.

“That sounds fun,” Blake finally offered, hesitant at first.

“Yeah?” Yang asked, lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning.  “I’d love to watch it with you!”

“Then let’s do that,” Blake replied, smiling while Yang grinned at her like a fool.

Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes at their blatant delight at the turn of events.  Of course, rolling her eyes would be hypocritical when she did the exact same thing with Ruby.

She was going to a concert with Ruby - one which she wasn’t dressed or prepared for - but one she was entirely too excited for regardless. 

Hearing the bathroom door open and smelling a wave of fresh roses flow into the room, Weiss caught Ruby’s eyes and immediately blushed.

“Ready!” Ruby said, shaking her damp hair before giving Weiss a thumbs up.  “Can we get dinner first?”

“Absolutely.”

Dinner and a concert - that certainly sounded like a date...

Grabbing her wallet and standing, Weiss shot one last look at Blake and Yang - who were still preoccupied with each other - before smiling and following Ruby to the door.  

Yang liked to say that Weiss was a terrible ‘wingman,’ but she’d have to say that dinner and a movie within the privacy of their dorm room sounded like a fantastic date.  Of course, Yang would probably chicken out at every opportunity of intimacy, but that’s what second, third, and fourth dates were for.

“I’m really excited!” Ruby said, recapturing Weiss’ attention as they walked into the hall.  The next moment, Ruby looped her arm through Weiss’, and she suddenly felt like she could levitate right off the ground in happiness.

“Me too,” Weiss whispered.

It was embarrassing how excited she was.  This was similar to when they went looking for different kinds of trees, only multiplied by ten.

“Do you know any of the songs?” she asked while they walked down the hall, trying to behave normally even though she could hear her heart beating in her ears.  

Her answer was a giggle that raised goosebumps along her arms.

“Nope!  But we can just make up the words, right?”

When Ruby pushed open the door and held it for her, Weiss smiled and tried to slow her rapidly-beating heart.

“That sounds like a great idea.”

“Awesome!”  Pausing for several seconds, Ruby turned to Weiss with a shy smile.  “It’s, uh, it’s a date!”

With a single word, Ruby sent Weiss’ heart soaring through a series of loops and turns unlike anything she’d felt before.  After all the waiting, the watching, the hopeless longing, they were going on a date - a real, Ruby-verified date.

Weiss was nervous - knowing she might very well make a fool of herself - but also more excited than she’d possibly ever been before.  She owed this moment to another great idea though - accidentally confessing a crush to a teammate, then agreeing to help set each other up in the aftermath.  

Yang and her were horrible matchmakers though.  Honestly, she was surprised it worked out.  Pleasantly surprised, but still...surprised.