Chapter Text
Ruby paced around the empty flower shop for what felt like the hundredth time today, looking for something, anything, to do. She would even welcome a speck of dust at this point, just something to signify that it was time to clean the shop for- she counted on her fingers -the sixth time today. Business hadn't been great lately at Red Like Roses, and Ruby was bored. Her quaint little corner of Vale had been well known for on-time and quality flower delivery for the longest time, or at least, it had been while her mother owned it.
She could remember the bustle of customers and the happy faces, it was her biggest inspiration for taking over the shop. She had promised herself that she would always greet the customers with her warmest heart and widest smile. But now… well, now it just felt like every day was the same. The days blended together. Even so, she'd always managed until now, so why had it been so hard lately? What was it about the daily routine that was boring her so much? Still, she had to look after the shop. If she didn't, no one else would after all.
As she reached the deepest point of her internal discussion, she was awoken by the noise of the doorbell, aptly serving its purpose of alerting her to the presence of new customers entering the store. This customer, however, seemed different from the other rare customers. She seemed… well, snobbier, for lack of better word. Red Like Roses was a well-known flower shop, but not well known enough to attract this calibre of customer.
She held herself with an air of dignity, her stark white hair in no way detracting from her youthful grace or beauty. A handbag hung from her shoulder which Ruby was certain had cost more than her entire wardrobe. Her snow-white dress was accented with blue patterns at the bottom, which faded from the hem stopping short of her waist, on which sat a silver belt, accented with a white buckle on which was emblazoned a snowflake that anyone in Vale who didn't live under a rock would recognise, it belonged to Schnee corporation. She donned a red scarf, which she removed and set down upon entering the store, having left the chilly winter air.
Realising she had been standing gawking, Ruby snapped herself out of her trance and moved to greet the customer, who upon closer inspection had a dim scar over her left eye.
"Hi! Welcome to Red Like Roses! I'm Ruby, how can I help you today?" Ruby declared cheerfully, almost bouncing up and down at the excitement of finally seeing another human being in the store, it felt like it had been forever. She extended her hand out for the girl to shake.
"Weiss." The girl took Ruby's hand expectantly, daintily shaking it before crossing her arms and looking around at the flowers on the shelves and walls.
"I'd like to place an order. The flower shop we had originally planned on ordering from has… well things didn't work out. It'll be a big order so it's probably best if I speak to the owner." She spoke condescendingly into Ruby's oblivious smile. Ruby nodded at her, expecting her to continue talking. Weiss waited in awkward silence for a minute or so before speaking again.
"So, if you could go and get the owner for me, that would be great…"
Ruby realised that Weiss didn't know. She replied in her usual bubbly tone. "That would be me. What is it you're looking for?"
Weiss' expression shifted into a much less satisfied one. "You're… the owner of this shop?" She said gesturing around, speaking slowly as though Ruby had missed something.
"Sure am!" Ruby replied, still oblivious to the fact that she was being looked down on.
"I see," Weiss said matter-of-factly, readjusting herself to present a more respectful front. "Well, I'm looking for a specific bouquet preparing, there's a lot to it. Will you be able to do it?"
Weiss handed over a piece of paper, listing a detailed bouquet, as well as multiple different ornaments and decorations, containing multiple different types of flower, some of which Ruby was sure a less experienced person would never have heard of. Thankfully, the demand for flowers was… not very high in Vale these days, so Ruby was sure that she would have time to craft even the complex ornaments listed below.
"I can handle this. When's the deadline?"
"Well… Next Thursday…" Weiss said sheepishly.
Ruby had to take a second to steady herself.
"Wow, they got you good huh?"
"It would seem so. Can you do it or not?" The girl replied impatiently. Ruby couldn't help but notice her eyes shifting nervously, she brought her focus back to the girl's scar, dropping her happy demeanour.
"Yeah, I can definitely do it. Rushing around is something I'm used to anyway." She mused nervously. She thought to herself for a second about the order. "Look, these flowers are hard to come by, and this order is… well, I don't think you're under any illusions that it will be a squeeze. I can get you a quote on it, but it might not be pretty, and there definitely won't be time for me to get you a sample." Ruby shifted her focus, realising she might be staring too much.
"Well, the circumstances aren't great on my end either," Weiss replied angrily, her face flushing with indignation at the audacity of an employee telling her how it is. What is she even staring at anyway? The scarred beauty thought to herself.
"Can you do it or not?" The white-haired girl repeated impatiently. Ruby's expression shifted from serious to joyous in an instant.
"Of course I can do it! I wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this!" Ruby beamed. "Especially not from-" Ruby cut herself short, not knowing how to finish her sentence, or why she started it to begin with. An awkward pause ensued, the silence broken by the less-than-eager customer.
"Especially not from…?" The girl questioned, tapping her foot on the ground, visibly irritated at the encounter.
"Especially not from… a paying customer such as yourself?" Ruby replied uncertainty, nervously scratching the back of her neck, and letting a smile crack through her shy surface.
It was all Weiss could do to suppress her chuckle, but she had been raised better than that.
After a minute or so of silence, Ruby turned around slowly, pivoting on her heels, to make her way back to the cluttered desk that her cash register sat on, the workspace covered in miscellaneous forms and sketches of flowers and bouquets. Somewhere on the messy desk was her pad of paper. The issue with that, however, was that Ruby was certain she would have an easier time finding an empty sheet of paper in a field of snow than she would on her own desk. She shuffled awkwardly until she located a piece of paper, and having now completed the first stage of the long and arduous mission, began the (potentially even longer) search for a working pen. Ruby was all too aware of her apparent unprofessionalism under Weiss' harsh gaze and wordless scrutiny.
Weiss eventually got tired of watching the act and fished through her own bag for a pen, which she handed Ruby. Ruby didn't have time to be taken aback at its quality, and, having already wasted enough of her customer's precious time, removed the lid of the pen and was surprised to find it was a fountain pen; she had never held one before. She scribbled on the piece of paper in front of her, occasionally glancing to Weiss' reference sheet for… reference, and glancing at other pieces of paper on her desk. She drafted the price and quickly summed it up, handing Weiss the receipt to look over, her anxiety kicking into gear and giving her a front-row seat in her full HD panic-induced anxiety-ridden vision that the high-class girl would scoff at her high price and take her business elsewhere.
"Are you sure this is right?" Weiss asked uncertainly, taking Ruby by surprise with the forwardness of her question.
"Ummm… I'm pretty sure. Why?" Ruby replied with a question, a habit she had when she was nervous.
"Well, I thought… I thought it would be more." Weiss stated. Ruby burst out laughing.
After a minute or so of laughter, Ruby calmed herself and once again set eyes upon Weiss' scar, it becoming a focal point to give the illusion of maintaining eye contact. Weiss was visibly shocked at Ruby's outburst, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
"I am so sorry, I just… That is the last thing I expected you to say." Ruby finally said between regaining her breath.
Weiss had to take a moment to fully process what had just happened, and unsure of exactly what to say, instead settled for reaching into her bag and pulling out her purse.
"You want to pay now?" Ruby asked this time surprised herself.
"Of course, when else would I pay?"
"Well just… usually, people pay after the flowers are delivered with orders this size." Ruby replied, surprised at Weiss' willingness to throw money at a promise she couldn't be certain would be fulfilled.
"Ahh… Well, I'd prefer to pay now if that's alright, get it out of the way." Weiss said, still unsure of how to address a girl so oblivious to her own status that she would laugh at not only a customer but a Schnee to boot.
"Uhhh okay," Ruby replied. "Well I need you to fill in this form first, so I know where to deliver the flowers to, and who they're for." She said, turning and pulling a piece of paper out of her barely organised pigeon holes behind the counter before handing it to Weiss.
Weiss took the paper less than eagerly and filled in the details, venue, name, contact details etc, handing the form over to Ruby when she finished filling it in.
Ruby perused the form before simply stating "You have nice handwriting,” eliciting a blush from the white-haired girl, and a sheepish "Thank you."
Taking note of the delivery address, Ruby asked: "Are the flowers for a wedding." Of course, she had seen the designs, the flowers were obviously for a wedding, but Ruby had learned the hard way not to presume this sort of thing.
"Yes," Weiss replied bluntly, clearly signalling that she wanted to end this encounter as soon as possible. A signal which Ruby ignored.
"Your wedding or…?" Ruby asked obviously, taking no time for subtlety with her small talk, and doing so as she filled in some forms herself, still using Weiss' pen.
"My sister's." Weiss again replied bluntly, but this time perhaps less abruptly.
"And what are they like?" Ruby asked, her inquisition slowly breaking down Weiss' will to resist the menial chatter.
"He… is, well, not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's got a good heart I suppose." Weiss thought of her sister's husband-to-be.
"You don't sound too happy about it?" Ruby looked up from her page for a second.
"No, he's fine… it's just…" Weiss trailed off. "What about you? Aren't you a little bit young to be running a store? Don't you have school?"
"I'll have you know I'm 19!" Ruby answered buoyantly. "And I kinda left college, midway through the first year." She felt her gusto fading to honesty.
"Why?" Weiss asked before she could check herself, instantly regretting her rudeness for prying.
Ruby's expression changed at the question, falling to a more tired and scared one, before shifting back to her happy mask. "It's just not for everyone I guess." The dark-haired girl smiled reassuringly. She stood up and gathered the forms she had just filled in before moving over to the cash register and punching in the price, all the while ignoring Weiss' look of subtle concern. The girls moved in silence, with Weiss paying and making her way to the door, before turning as though to say something, deciding against it and leaving.
Ruby collapsed back into her chair, something about the encounter with the girl had left her mentally drained. She thought about the conversation, replaying it in her mind and slipping into a reflective trance, snapped out of it by the literal snapping of her sister's fingers in front of her face, and coming back into reality to be face to face with Yang's deep amethyst eyes.
"Earth to Ruby. You ready to go?" The blonde asked, smiling cheerfully in her sister's face. Ruby felt like she had been asleep, but couldn't be sure.
"Yeah," she replied groggily, before grabbing her deep red coat and following the older girl out of the door, walking past the red scarf on the counter and locking the door behind her.