Chapter Text
Ruby rushed into her team’s dorm in a flurry of petals and note paper. It had been a long day of classes, and she was more than excited to finally relax and not have to think about the average land speed of a Deathstalker.
Why would I have to know that, anyway? I’m obviously way faster than any dumb old Grimm!
As she dumped her textbooks on her bed, the door reopened as the rest of Team RWBY filed in after their hyperactive leader. Blake was smirking at some awful pun Yang had made, amber eyes twinkling with concealed mirth. Weiss merely shook her head and began cleaning up after Ruby’s whirlwind mess on the floor, muttering something about strapping a vacuum to her partner.
The four girls settled in to relax. Blake lay on her bed with a new book. Yang was ‘studying’ while watching some video on her scroll. Weiss sat at the desk writing a paper that wasn’t due for another week. All while Ruby sat on the floor tinkering away with her beloved Crescent Rose. The only sounds were the clink of small tools and the scribbling of Weiss’ pencil.
The white-haired heiress shuffled some papers, reaching for a notebook to search for some information she couldn’t quite remember. Her fingers found the spiral binding, but when she looked at the cover she recognized the bright red color and hand-drawn emblem of her partner.
“Ruby Rose, how many times have I told you not to mix up our notes? You know I have a system!” Just as Weiss was about to flip open the cover to see which class the book was for, a blur of red shot up from the floor and snatched the item out of her grasp. Weiss looked to the side with a raised eyebrow, seeing her partner standing a few feet away with a soft pink tinge on her cheeks.
“S-sorry, Weiss! I was up late last night writing p- writing notes, and I must’ve forgotten to put it back,” the red-fringed leader shuffled in place, nerves making her fidget. Weiss brow rose higher and she turned her body to face her partner.
“What’s got you so nervous? Afraid I’ll berate you for doodling in the margins again?” The snowette allowed herself a genuine smile at the sight of the blushing girl. Ruby only flushed deeper, tilting her head so that her bangs shielded her eyes.
“N-no, it’s not that! This one is just… private. For… for reasons.”
“Private, for reasons?” Weiss couldn’t keep the incredulous tone from her voice, but looking at how embarrassed Ruby was, she couldn’t quite bring herself to pry. “What, did you write sappy poetry or something?” the heiress joked. The brunette’s shoulders tensed and she shook her head rapidly. Weiss shrugged and turned back to her paper.
“Suit yourself, then. Just try not to leave your things lying around anymore if they’re so personal.”
“Yeah, of course! Sorry Weiss!” Ruby bolted over to her bed, throwing the notebook on top of the pile she had created. The heiress only sighed at the unruly girl and focused on her work.
Several minutes passed in silence before a knock sounded at the door. Yang and Blake were much too preoccupied to move, and Weiss sighed as she began to get up from her chair. Before she could stand, though, Ruby was already at the door and swinging it open. On the other side, hand still raised from knocking, stood Pyrrha. The redhead lowered her gaze to see the much shorter leader and gave a warm smile.
“Oh, hello Ruby! How are you?” the Mistralian warrior towered over the brunette, but rather than appearing intimidating, she gave off a friendly, welcoming air. Ruby sputtered briefly before composing herself.
“Hi, Pyrrha! You’re fine! I mean I’m fine! I mean-” she rapidly devolved from words into an embarrassed squeak. Weiss barely resisted the urge to facepalm as she watched the exchange. It seemed like the only person dense enough to not notice Ruby’s infatuation with the red-headed prodigy was Pyrrha herself. As it stood, the WBY members of team RWBY had been trying for weeks to help Ruby work up the courage to confess, but they’re efforts seemed fruitless.
“Um, thank you, Ruby,” Pyrrha giggled at the floundering brunette. “If it’s not too much trouble, I was wondering if I might borrow some notes for the Dust Mechanics class? I seem to have misplaced mine.”
Grateful that the conversation had moved on, Ruby glanced pleadingly over her shoulder at Weiss. The heiress only shook her head and pointed the end of her pencil at Yang. The blonde brawler was doing an admirable job of scribing down notes while laughing at whatever antics she was watching on her scroll.
“Oh, I guess Yang is using Weiss’ notes… um…” Ruby ran a hand through her hair nervously. “Oh! I know! You can use mine. They probably aren’t as detailed, but I’m sure it’s better than nothing, right?”
“That would be quite helpful, yes,” Pyrrha gave another of those warm smiles that made Ruby’s heart feel like it was going to explode. The small brunette swallowed loudly and dashed to her bed, rummaging blindly through her books and papers before pulling out one of her many red-tinged notebooks. Her teammates never understood how she managed to keep track of which was which. Darting back to the door, Ruby skidded to a stop, notebook held out reverently.
“H-here, you can bring it back whenever! I won’t need them for a little while!” The brunette’s voice cracked and she avoided making eye contact. There was a moment of confusion that passed through emerald green eyes, but the Pyrrha decided to let the girl be. She took the notebook gently, fingers brushing with Ruby’s and causing goosebumps to trail up the team leader’s arms.
“Thank you very much, Ruby. I’ll be sure to return it in exactly the same condition,” She smiled again, bowing her head slightly in gratitude. Ruby only nodded slightly, still somewhat stunned from the brief physical contact. Pyrrha’s brow furrowed slightly in concern and she glanced over Ruby’s head to look at Weiss. The heiress simply shrugged and turned back to her paper. The redhead sighed softly and took a step out the door, allowing to swing shut behind her. Ruby just waved dumbly at the now closed door before banging her head against the surface with a dull thud. A chuckle sounded from behind her and she turned to see Yang, one of her headphones out.
“Way to go, Rubes. Stellar performance,” the blonde laughed.
“Shut up, Yang! It’s not like you were any help!” Ruby pressed her back to the door and slid down until her butt touched the floor, hiding her face in her arms.
“I’m sure you’ll work up the courage to tell her eventually,” Blake’s reassured from her bunk. Her soft voice helped ease some of Ruby’s nerves. Some of them. Deciding her hands were shaking too much to continue working on her sweetheart, Ruby packed away her tools and clambered into her bed. She shuffled through the mess of papers and tried her best to organize them. Her mind was still stuck on her brief interaction with Pyrrha, and she figured she may as well vent out some of her emotions.
A few seconds later, a sinking feeling formed in Ruby’s stomach. The petite brunette zipped over to the door, as if retracing her steps, before looking toward her partner in desperation.
“Weissss?”
“Yes, Ruby?” the heiress didn’t look up from her paper. She was nearly done and she’d rather not deal with any more interruptions for the night.
“You didn’t happen to see which notebook I gave Pyrrha, did you?” her voice was small and shaky, and her eyes seemed to shimmer softly when Weiss finally looked up at her.
“I don’t know, the red one? Aren’t they all red?”
“Well… yeah, but what color red? Like rose red? Or hot rod red?”
Weiss only response was another raised eyebrow, her crystal blue eyes clearly unamused.
“What’s wrong, Ruby?” Blake asked. She had been half paying attention to the conversation since Pyrrha left, and could sense the growing despair in Ruby’s voice. When she didn’t reply, the cat Faunus leaned out of her bed and expertly tossed a pillow up at her bunk mate.
“Oof! Hey, what gives?” Yang leaned over the side of the bed to retaliate, but Blake interrupted her by pointing at her sister. “Rubes? What’s up?” The blonde hopped down and approached her sister, crouching in front of her. “Hey, I’m sorry for teasing you about Pyrrha. I’ll lay off if it bugs you.”
Ruby shook her head sadly, looking up to meet Yang’s eyes with a quivering lip.
“I-I think I gave Pyrrha the wrong notebook…” her voice was soft and shaky. She seemed less agitated and more… scared.
“Well that’s not such a big deal, right? Once she realizes it’s not the right notes, she’ll just bring it back!” Yang looked over her shoulder at her partner for help. Blake only shrugged, eyes full of concern.
“No, that’s not it. I mean I think I gave her the wrong notebook.”
“You mean the one you so carelessly left out on the desk even though it’s ‘private’?” Weiss asked. Ruby nodded. “Well what’s in it that’s so bad?”
The brunette’s response was so soft that not even Blake’s Faunus hearing could pick up what she said. Yang sat down next to her and gently ruffled her hair.
“What was that, Rubes? Couldn’t quite hear ya.”
“It’s… poems…” Ruby sniffled softly and leaned into her sister.
“Poems? That doesn’t sound so bad,” Blake offered helpfully.
“Poems… about Pyrrha…”
Blake, Yang, and Weiss all looked between each other in sudden understanding.
“Ohhhh…” the three chimed in unison.
“Well… as long as they aren’t too dirty-” Yang’s joke was cut off by another bullseye pillow smacking her in the face. She returned fire, but Weiss stopped the projectile in midair with one of her glyphs.
“Maybe she hasn’t read it yet? I would have expected some kind of reaction by now if she had,” The heiress stood from her chair and walked over to join the sisters by the door. Even Blake hopped off of her bed, book forgotten due to concern for her friend.
“But what if she did read it!? What if she’s laughing at how dumb and corny they are!? Or what if she’s so grossed out that she threw it away!?” Ruby’s voice gradually rose in panic, and Yang pulled her into a hug to calm her down.
“Hey, hey, it’s all right! This is Pyrrha we’re talkin’ about! Y’know, the girl who could kick anyone’s ass in a fight, but would still help them up after. The girl who always saves extra pudding for her friends. The girl who is probably incredibly flattered right now that my sweet little sister wrote some adorable poems about her!”
“Yang’s right,” Blake sat down and rubbed Ruby’s back. “Let’s say, worst case scenario, Pyrrha doesn’t return your feelings. I’m sure she’ll return your notebook and apologize over and over for not being able to make you happy.”
“Of course, Pyrrha could never hurt someone intentionally like that. It’s just not in her nature,” Weiss attempted her own form of awkward comfort by gently taking her partner’s hand. Ruby sniffled and gave a small smile.
“Yeah… yeah, you guys are right! Maybe I should just go talk to her…”
Before Ruby could make a move, though, all four girls jumped at a knock on the door.
“Um, may I come in? Again?” though muffled, Pyrrha’s voice was unmistakable, and team RWBY rapidly disentangled themselves and stood awkwardly. Yang gave her sister a little push and nodded at the door.
“Well? Go on, it’ll be fine!” the blonde gave a hearty thumbs up. Ruby shuffled her feet for several seconds, looking between the comforting and supportive gazes of her friends. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and spun around, yanking the door open with a little more force than necessary. The girl on the other side let out a tiny squeak of surprise, hand upraised as if preparing to knock again. The sight of her face and the adorable sound Pyrrha made had Ruby flustered all over.
“Hello!” The redhead was first to break the awkward silence, waving happily at the team in the room with a small smile. The other three members of team RWBY gave their own polite greetings as their leader stuttered and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.
“H-hey Pyrrha!” the brunette’s voice was soft and shy. She peered up at the object of her affection through her bangs, giving a nervous smile.
“Hello, Ruby. I um… I suppose it would be best to get to the point,” the team JNPR member withdrew a familiar notebook from behind her back. She made to hold it out toward Ruby, but instead clutched it to her chest. “It would be fair to assume that you wrote the poems in here, correct?”
Ruby nodded, refusing to meet Pyrrha’s eyes. The redhead took a deep breath before continuing.
“Good, good. I just wanted you to know that… I’m very flattered you think so highly of me, and in such a… romantic fashion. I’m sure anyone would be more than happy to have such beautiful and heartfelt things written about them but…” Pyrrha paused, her face slowly changing shade to match her hair, until her emerald eyes were swimming in a sea of soft pinkish red. “But I’m glad you chose me…”
The sudden shift in her tone prompted Ruby to look up finally. The tall, powerful, legendary Pyrrha Nikos was standing before her with the sweetest look of embarrassment the young leader had ever seen. She clutched the notebook tightly, biting her lip and attempting to ignore the soft giggles coming from Yang.
“D-does that mean…?” Ruby was incredulous. There was no way Pyrrha was actually returning her feelings, was there?
“If it’s not too short notice, would you like to go into Vale with me this evening? Perhaps on a d-date?” As the two hapless girls stared at each other, it seemed only a matter of time before one of them spontaneously combusted out of nerves. Ruby’s mouth opened and closed several times before she remembered how to use words.
“Y-yes… Yes, yes! Absolutely! Oh my Oum, I never expected this to happen! What should I wear? Where do you want to go? Oh gosh, I need to wash my face! Or my hair! Ohmygohohmygoshohmy- I think I’m going to be sick!”
A blur of red zipped passed her teammates as the bathroom door slammed shut. A few seconds later, all those present could hear water running and the sound of a babbling Ruby trying not to lose her lunch. Pyrrha stood stock still in the doorway, staring awkwardly at the other three girls in the room; all of whom were in various states of shock of their own.
“D-did I do something wrong?” The Mistralian’s voice cracked as she met the eyes of Weiss, Blake, and Yang. The blonde recovered first, shocked expression morphing into one of absolute joy.
“Pyrrha Nikos, you sly dog!” Yang stepped forward, wrapping a firm but caring arm around the slightly taller girl’s shoulders. “Looks like you and I need to have a talk! Y’know, older sister to girlfriend!”
“G-girlfriend!? So… was that supposed to be a ‘yes’?” the redhead allowed herself to be steered out of the room and down the hall.
“It’s the closest you’ll get until she manages to calm down. But, while she’s busy I can cover some ground rules for ya,” Yang’s smile turned ever so slightly menacing. “Can’t have you going and breaking my sister’s heart, now can I?”
Very few things frightened the “Invincible Girl” Pyrrha Nikos, but in that moment, as Yang’s eyes briefly flared red, Pyrrha would have rather faced down a horde of Deathstalkers than continue this conversation. She gulped.
At least Ruby is worth it.