Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: "Corgi" by Steven Casey

It was a dog.

A small dog, the size of a pack of floss, folded out of crisp white printer paper, scuttling down the busy sidewalk. As Weiss walked to her evening calculus class, she looked around, glancing to see if anyone else had noticed this curiosity weaving in and out of the heels dress shoe-clad feet marching along the sidewalk. The business people walking home from a long day at work paid the dog no mind as they tried to get home. To be fair, she wouldn't have noticed it either, had she not almost stepped on it by mistake. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Was it really made of paper? There was no way a piece of paper could be walking down the street.

Weiss watched as it scurried across the sidewalk and rounded a corner. Beacon University, her destination, was just a few blocks ahead, but she was intrigued by the paper dog's destination. It clearly was going somewhere, but the only question was: Where?

She contemplated just forgetting about it, but there was no way that she could. This was beyond curiosity. It was almost like a subconscious urging, like if she didn't follow the dog, she would regret it for the rest of her life. But her class. She had a reputation to uphold, and so far she had not missed a single day of class in her 2 years at Beacon.

Weiss got to the intersection and looked at the dog walking to her left. She looked at campus ahead of her. The dog rounded another corner, and Weiss knew she had to make a decision. Now. Steeling herself, she turned to the left, pushed through the flow of pedestrians, and followed the dog.

Xiao Long Bakery and Cafe

That's where the dog stopped. It was a nice little shop, with a glass storefront and some posters advertising baked goods and coffee. Weiss watched from a nearby bench as the paper dog sat patiently in front of the door. Luckily, no one had gone in or out of the quiet shop and stepped on it. Weiss contemplated opening the door for it, but she was afraid that if she got any closer to it, it would run away. So, she waited. And waited.

Weiss glanced at her phone. 7:33 pm. She'd been sitting on this bench for a little over 20 minutes. Was the dog's owner inside? How long did it take to buy baked goods anyways? In fact, as far as she could tell through the window, no one was even inside the bakery.

She'd been waiting here long enough. She'd already skipped her class. If she was out too late and the media saw her, her father would murder her. If not murder, then very angrily scold her for setting a bad example as a Schnee. She gently rose up, and walked over to the door of the bakery. As she glanced down at the dog, she saw it look up at her, tilting its little angular head. She opened the door, and as it jingled to signify a customer, the dog zoomed in between her legs and into the bakery, where it ran behind the counter.

"Hi there, how can I-" started the apron-clad girl behind the counter, before seeing the small paper canine and coming out from behind the counter, "Oh Zwei, there you are!"

The girl knelt down and extended her palm for the dog to jump onto. As she rose up, she made eye contact with Weiss.

Her eyes sparkled in the sunset.

They looked as if they were cast of mercury, glinting mischievously in the sunlight. She had dark brown hair framing her face, and the tips were a muted red. She wore black jeans, a burgundy sweater, and black sneakers, although most of it was hidden by a flour-covered black apron that went all the way to her knees. She was the antithesis of Weiss' light blue jeans, ironed white blouse, and spotless navy flats.

"Thanks for bringing Zwei back," said the girl. "I didn't know where he had went, and I was stressed out of my mind"

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have lost him," said the heiress.

Wait. Was she having a normal conversation with this girl? Was she going to just brush over the fact that she had talked to a moving piece of paper?

"Wait a second," said Weiss. "Is that thing made of paper?"

"Yup, he sure is!" said the baker. "Want to hold him? He doesn't bite."

"I'm so confused."

"Oh, I would be too if I didn't make him."

"Then explain."

"Sure thing," started the girl, "But first, want a cookie?"

The girl gestured to the top of the counter, and sure enough, there was a tray of chocolate chip cookies on it.

"I just baked them. They're warm and fresh and since no one's come in for the past 10 minutes, you can have your pick of the batch! Don't worry, they're all great."

Weiss tentatively took one from the tray and gave it a nibble. The girl was right. They were warm and fresh and great. She gave it a few more dainty bites before finishing it off.

"Just needs a glass of milk, doesn't it?" laughed the girl. She reached out a hand and gave Weiss a big smile that reached all the way to her eyes.

"I'm Ruby! What's your name?"

"Um…"

Weiss wasn't sure how comfortable she felt giving this girl her name. The name "Weiss" on its own was an odd one. The name "Weiss" with pristine white hair was bound to raise a bit of suspicion.

"Winter. My name is Winter."

In her moment of weakness she'd defaulted to her big sister. Whenever things got hard, she always thought of Winter. Idiot. That defeated the entire point of coming up with a fake name. The ice-themed name, the white hair, the good manners and stunning good looks; there was no way this girl wouldn't put two and two together.

"Ooh Winter. How appropriate. Get it? With the white hair and ice-themed wardrobe?"

Now she was being made fun of. It wasn't her fault that her favorite colors were white and blue. It was just a coincidence that her entire family had been sculpted out of the same color palette.

"Very funny. The dog?"

"Oh yes," Ruby straightened up. "This is Zwei, he's a magical origami dog."

While that was what she had guessed, there was no way it was true. Weiss wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but magic wasn't real. Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe Whitley had spiked her hot chocolate again during his last visit. Last time it had been laxatives. Maybe this time he had upped the ante and given her some mind-altering substances. When she woke up she was going to call him and have a talk. One that involved her flying home and chasing him through the hallways of the manor until he apologized.

"I can see that look on your face. It's kind of crazy right?" Ruby smirked. She leaned in closer, as if sharing a secret. "But it's true. 100 percent."

"100 percent?"

"100 percent."

"Is this a dream?"

Ruby leaned back and stretched while letting out a yawn.

"Hmm, I don't think so. Although, if this is a dream, I don't think I'd be allowed to tell you. That's just how dreams work. Dream 101. Also, isn't it impossible to make up faces in dreams? Trust me, if you'd seen this pretty face before, you would have remembered."

Weiss stared at Ruby. Was this girl trying to flirt with her? Ruby was still stretching, not even looking at Weiss, and her face was composed, as if stating an irrefutable piece of knowledge. Weiss felt herself fighting to keep any semblance of color showing on her pale cheeks. She was starting to fail when Ruby made eye-contact with her and started giggling.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I promise you I don't do that with everyone, but you seemed so uptight and confused and I thought it would be-".

"Uptight?"

"Well yeah. I didn't mean to be offensive, but you look kind of frazzled and high-strung right now and I wanted to-"

"I am NOT uptight," Weiss snapped. "I am perfectly composed, thank you very much."

"Woah, okay. Sorry Winter, I didn't mean to-"

"Winter?" Oh yeah, that's what she had told Ruby her name was.

"Yeah, that's you. You're Winter," Ruby said, "Unless you were joking."

She wasn't Winter. She was Weiss. Everyone had wanted her to be Winter, with her perfect face and good manners. But she wasn't Winter, not even close. Winter wouldn't be here, skipping her class. Winter would be in class, turning in the homework early and answering every question. Winter wouldn't have run away from home to go to college across the country. She would have stayed by her family's side, no matter how hard it may seem.

Why was she even thinking about this right now? She hadn't felt this way in years. Something about being in an unfamiliar situation with unfamiliar variables had left her grasping for some semblance of comfort. But Winter wasn't here. Not anymore. She felt bile rising up in her throat at the thought of even attempting to be Winter, and turned around before Ruby could see her face.

"I need to go. Have a nice night."

"Winter wait. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Weiss flung open the door, the jingle signaling her goodbye. She ran as fast as her flats would allow her to comfortably attempt, and made it to a park half a mile away before turning around. Ruby hadn't followed her. With a sigh of relief, she sat down on a bench and took a few calming breaths before checking her phone.

7:46 pm.

It was getting late, and she didn't know Vale well enough to be out during the night. Grudgingly standing up, she started to make her way back to her flat.

Weiss dropped her backpack by the door and crashed onto the white sofa face-first. Her flat was quiet, the way she usually liked it. But this time, she wished that it wasn't so quiet. Quiet was a bad environment when Weiss was down. It left her alone with her thoughts and the nagging voices filling her head with doubts.

Weiss rolled off of the sofa and clambered over to the kitchen. Pulling out a cup from the cupboard, she poured herself from water from the fridge and took a few calming sips. The cold water running down her throat helped center her, and bring her back down to Earth.

looked at the picture she had over the fake fireplace. She only had one: a picture that Klein had taken of her and Winter two years ago in front of the Christmas lights at Ironwood Plaza. For the first time in a while, Weiss thought of Winter. She missed her big sister. The one that would surprise her with one of Klein's terrifying, but delicious, concoctions when she was feeling down. The one that would let her hide in the same closet in her bedroom every time they played hide-and-seek, but still searched every other room in the manor first so that she could feel clever. The one that would comb her hair before she went to school, and wake her up so she wouldn't sleep in. The one that would comfort Weiss when she was sad or scared and let her know that she wasn't alone.

The one that was currently resting deep in the Schnee Mausoleum, on the other side of the country.

"Ready or not...here I come!"

As Winter emerged from her bedroom, where she had been counting, she dramatically looked around the empty hallway. She walked down its length before peeking her head into Weiss' room.

"Klein," said Winter in a sing-song tone. "Have you seen Weiss anywhere?"

"No, I believe I haven't," said Klein, trying to keep a straight face. "Perhaps you should check the kitchen? You do know how she loves sweets."

A giggle came from behind the closet door.

"That's a great idea. I'll start my search over there. Thank you Klein."

"You are absolutely welcome, Miss Winter."

Once Winter had closed the door, and could be heard walking away, Weiss slid the closet door open and smiled at Klein.

"We tricked her again! Thanks Klein."

"You are very welcome, Miss Weiss. Now, I do recommend you hide again before she comes back. We wouldn't want Miss Winter finding you, now would we."

Weiss snickered and slid the door closed.

"She'll never find me!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Dove by Unknown (Traditional Model)

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Fuuuck.”

As Weiss’ alarm kept going off, she had no choice but to roll out of bed and onto the ground with a thump. She blearily blinked the sleepy out of her eyes, and reached for her phone to turn off the alarm. 

Instead, she ended up knocking the phone off of her nightstand onto her face.

To say that today was going to be a terrible day was an understatement.

After Weiss stumbled to the bathroom, she took a long look at herself in the mirror. To say she looked like shit would be an understatement. She vaguely remembered crawling into bed after crying on the living room floor last night, and hadn’t even changed out of her clothes. Her blouse was wrinkled beyond belief, her hair was as stuck up as her personality, and her eyes were so crusted that they crunched when she blinked. She needed a shower. And probably some hot chocolate as well. Extra marshmallows.

After emerging from the shower, much less crusty and musty than before, she put on a t-shirt and shorts, which were obviously white and blue. She padded over to the kitchen, her feet relishing the feel of the cold hardwood, and pulled open the cupboard. 

Swiss Miss was a miracle that she’d discovered when she’d moved to Vale, and her new comfort drink. Of course, it could never compare to Klein’s hot chocolate, where he would melt real luxury chocolates in whole-fat milk and top it with a gratuitous amount of whipped cream, marshmallows, and shaved chocolate, but as a college student, time was precious. Also, Weiss could not cook for her life. Most days, she subsisted off lukewarm food from the dining hall on campus or a salad from the deli close to her apartment. Pouring her milk into a mug, she remembered how hard it had been for her when she had first moved. 

“Do you want me to put it over here?”

“You can just put it somewhere in the bedroom. I think those are my clothes, so I’ll unpack those on my own later.”

“You folded your clothes and stuffed them in a box?! Weiss, clothes are precious. They need room to breathe, otherwise they’ll wrinkle. Clothing 101, I taught you this. You know, I’m still not convinced you know how to take care of yourself.”

“Coco, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Weiss was glad Coco had come to help her set up her apartment. It had been hard to convince her father to let her leave Atlas and go to Beacon after her sister’s death, but it helped that Beacon had one of the top business schools in the country. Even though she’d wanted to leave Atlas and try something new, it didn’t mean she wasn’t scared. In fact, she was terrified of leaving home by herself for the first time, and was grateful that her best friend had insisted on helping her move in.

“Do you even know how to do laundry? Cook an egg? Pay a bill?” Coco asked skeptically, sizing up her friend.

“Yes Coco, I can do all of those things,” Weiss insisted. 

“Really?” asked Coco, pulling down her shades.

“Really.”

Well at least she’d thought she could. It was only two days after she moved in when she’d FaceTimed Coco in a panic.

“Coco! Help!” Weiss was in a state of distress.

“Weiss, it’s like 1 am in the morning, and I’m a little busy,” Coco said. Weiss could make out a silhouette next to her in bed, but was too busy to be concerned with such trivialities.

“I wanted to make hot chocolate, so I bought some mix from the store, and it told me to warm up a cup of milk, so I put it in the microwave, and now it’s bubbling and sputtering and I don’t-”

“Jesus Christ. This is what you called me for? How long has it been in for?”

“5 minutes.”

“Next time, do 45 seconds.”

“Only 45 seconds?”

“Bye Weiss.”

After that catastrophe, Weiss always put it in for exactly 45 seconds, and always watched it in case anything ever went wrong. She’d gotten a lot better at handling herself in crises since then, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She was now mostly independent, and although she received money from her parents every week, she made sure not to waste it and to spend it accordingly. 

As Weiss pulled the cup out of the microwave, and mixed in the powder, she thought about what she should add. To be fair, she’d had a pretty terrible morning, so it was probably alright to add marshmallows and whipped cream. Everyone should get to splurge a little. 

“Ahhh,” she sighed, as she took her first sip. This hit the spot. In fact, the only thing that could have made it better would have been a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies.

“Trust me, if you’d seen this pretty face before, you would have remembered.”

Well at least she knew where she could get some good ones. Not that she ever would. There was no way she was setting foot in that store again. Her face turned red as she imagined what it must have been like for the other girl. After all, from her perspective, she’d witnessed Weiss have a panic attack over what was supposedly her own name. She could go and apologize, but it would be much easier and less embarrassing to just not go back. After all, there were many other bakeries in town, and many of them also had chocolate chip cookies. She could even buy some from the supermarket and just warm them up in the microwave.

Wait. How long was she supposed to put cookies in the microwave for?

As Weiss crunched through the autumn leaves on her way home after her last class of the day, she felt a buzzing in her pocket.

hi

i missed you so i went over to your house so klein could make me hot chocolate

it was bomb

wish you were here :D

And a selfie of Coco and Klein, both of which were flashing huge grins and peace signs at the camera. Weiss chuckled and sent back a quick text.

I miss you guys too.

Tell Klein I’ve replaced him with Swiss Miss.

Weiss put her phone back in her pocket and kept walking, when she felt a few drops of water fall from the sky. The first rain of the fall. Weiss pulled a small umbrella out of her backpack and opened it, when she heard a squeal coming from an alley on her left. Dark alleys were something she’d been warned about in the movies, and she’d never had to go into one in real life. She wasn’t in a shady neighborhood, but Weiss wasn’t one to press her luck.

“Ugh, come back! You’ll get wet!”

No. It couldn’t be. 

“Trust me, if you’d seen this pretty face before, you would have remembered.”

It was the same girl from yesterday. And she was starting to come out of the alley. Weiss had two options: she could either help the girl, who seemed to be struggling with something, or she could run away and save herself from an awkward interaction. Klein had taught her to never turn down someone in need, but her father had taught her that not everybody could be saved, and sometimes she needed to prioritize herself. She was pretty sure that he had meant important business decisions, but the principle still applied.

Muttering a quick apology to Klein, Weiss started to quickly walk past the alley-

“I said get back here you-shit!”

Ruby came running out of the alley and ran straight into Weiss, knocking the heiress down onto the wet sidewalk.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there and- Oh, Winter!”

Shit. Weiss wasn’t planning to run into this girl again. She had planned to run away, but she was now torn between running and giving this girl a piece of her mind for knocking her onto her ass in the rain. As she looked up at Ruby, she saw the girl extend a hand towards her.

“Here, I’ll help you out. You can’t sit on the sidewalk forever.”

Grudgingly, Weiss reached up and took hold of Ruby’s hand. It was warm. Warm like a fireplace, or a comforting baked good. Warm like the chocolate chip cookies.

Weiss stood up, and touched a hand to her pants. Her rear was soaked through.

“What were you thinking, running like that? You knocked me over! Now my pants are wet, and I’m cold and-”

“Okay okay, I know you probably have a lot more to say, and I’d love to hear it, but I really need to do something right now!” Ruby was already on the move, looking back at Weiss, “I’m so sorry! You can lecture me next time! Promise!”

What. She was leaving. Which was good; Weiss didn’t want to see her ever again. But she had just left while Weiss was tearing into her. She hadn’t even gotten to give her a piece of her mind yet.

“Hey!” Weiss yelled at Ruby. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Catching Butter!” Ruby yelled back. “She’ll get wet in the rain!”

Weiss started chasing after Ruby.

“Who the hell is Butter?”

“My bird! She can’t get wet, or she’ll fall apart!”

A bird that falls apart when wet? What kind of nonsense?

And then Weiss saw it. A little origami dove, folded out of the nicest shade of yellow, like a sunset in a movie.

Or like butter. Makes sense .

Butter had landed under a tree, and although the tree’s thick branches shielded it from some of the rain, there were still quite a few drops getting through. And a few of those drops were landing on Butter.

Ruby got to Butter and shielded her with her body. Wearing a crewneck sweater, Ruby had no hood, and just curled around Butter to protect her from the rain. Weiss approached Ruby and held her umbrella over the shivering girl.

Ruby looked up at Weiss with bright eyes.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

“Don’t thank me,” started Weiss. “I’m nowhere near done tearing into you yet.”

But then she softened. Ruby had just been trying to protect something she cared about. Weiss had often thrown away everything to do the same.

“But, I understand that you were just looking out for Butter.”

Ruby’s smile grew even larger, if that was possible. 

“See, you get it!”

Ruby scooted over and patted the dirt next to her. Weiss took a look at the dirty ground and instantly made up her mind.

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“Suit yourself,” said Ruby. “For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to hit a nerve.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault,” said Weiss. And she meant it. It honestly hadn’t been Ruby’s fault. It had been her own fault for giving Ruby a false name, and then getting upset when Ruby called her that name. 

Ruby reached out a hand for the second time that day, but this time their positions were swapped.

“Let’s start over. I’m Ruby.”

“I’m...Weiss.”

Ruby looked confused.

“Weiss? But yesterday you said your name was Winter?”

“It’s complicated, but it’s not. My real name is Weiss.”

Ruby didn’t seem to be completely over the confusion, but she nodded her head, as if agreeing.

“Okay then, Weiss it is!”

Ruby had the biggest smile on her face, as if she had just been thrown a surprise birthday party. That big smile. All that over a name. Weiss couldn’t help but smile too. After all, how could she not?

“Weiss, this is Butter. She’s a dove, I think. I folded her intending her to be a dove, but all origami birds look the same, so who’s to judge?”

Ruby held Butter up to Weiss, and Butter used the opportunity to nudge her beak against Weiss’ outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you Butter,” Weiss said, “And you too Ruby.”

“Pleased to meet your ass-quantaince,” Ruby smirked. “Get it? Because your ass is soaked and your panties are showing?”

“My what is what?” Weiss gasped.

“Don’t worry, only a little. Nothing to worry about. Did you like the pun? My older sister’s starting to rub off on me.”

“I hated it! Give me back my umbrella! I need to get home!”

“But then how about me and Butter?” Ruby looked up at Weiss with puppy-dog eyes. “We can’t be out here in the rain. We’ll soak and freeze to death.”

Weiss looked at Ruby. She was playing it up. Weiss knew it. But she couldn’t leave her and her origami in the rain.

“Come on,” Weiss sighed. “My apartment’s close by. You can borrow a jacket over there.”

“Yay!” squealed Ruby. “Come on Butter, we’re going to spend the night at Auntie Weiss’ apartment!”

“What? No!”

“Sleepover!”

This was going to be a long walk home.

“Now, now. I’ve made three separate mugs, and they’re all very big, so there will be no fighting over my amazing hot chocolate tonight.”

“But Weiss got more hot chocolate than me! Look! My mug is lower than hers!”

“Shut up Whitley, it’s because you already took a few sips out of yours.”

“But it was already lower before I took the sips.”

“Here Whit, you can have mine.”

As usual, Winter was on damage control. She took Whitley’s mug and gave him her own, which appeased the young boy. With everyone happy, the children took heaving slurps of hot chocolate, making sure to shovel the whipped cream into their mouths before it melted. Except for Winter. Where Weiss and Whitley gorged on the sugary drink, she merely sipped at it. 

“Is everything alright, Miss Winter?” asked Klein. 

“Yes, thank you Klein,” said Winter. “I’m just full after dinner.”

“Ah well, no need to force it down for my sake. If you’re not feeling up to it, you know that I will happily make it another time when you’d prefer.”

“Thank you Klein,” said Winter. “But I’ll finish this so it doesn’t go to waste.”

“As you wish, Miss Winter,” said Klein.

“All done! I win!”

“No, I win! I finished first!”

“Then why did I say it first?”

“Because I was licking the whipped cream off of my spoon, you moron!”

“Then it doesn’t count! See? I don’t have any whipped cream on my spoon!”

“Whit, I swear to god, I’m going to punch you!”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Origamido Butterfly by Michael LaFosse

“Might have used up all of your hot water there!”

The remark reminded Weiss of exactly what was happening. Not that she needed any reminder; she’d been thinking about it the entire time Ruby was in the shower. Her shower. Weiss had to admit that she had some sort of attraction to Ruby. After all, how could anyone not? But Weiss was a grown adult. She was above peeking on Ruby in the shower, and above being distracted by hearing Ruby’s hums as she cleaned off her rain-soaked skin.

That didn’t mean that Weiss was confused by exactly what was going on. Yes, it had been her idea to invite Ruby over, and it had also been her idea to let Ruby use her shower and borrow her clothes to stay warm, but what exactly was she hoping to achieve by doing all this?

“Earth to Weiss?”

Weiss snapped back to reality. Ruby was waving a hand in front of her face, like a scene straight out of a movie. She was wearing one of Weiss’ shirts and pajama pants, and they were a bit too small on her. Not that Weiss noticed. She definitely did not notice.

“I’m here, sorry. Just tired.”

Weiss tried for a smile to prove her point, but it looked forced.

“Okay, if you say so,” said Ruby. “Your turn in the shower!”

“Okay thanks. I’ll be out soon.”

“Take your time. I won’t be messing with anything. That’s for sure.”

Weiss stared at Ruby. Ruby just stared right back at her and smirked.

“Go! Shoo!”

Weiss sighed and walked to the bathroom.

Ruby was right. She had used all of the hot water. As Weiss put on a tank top and sweatpants, she found herself subconsciously trying to choose her best ones. Why did this even matter to her? She wasn’t even into girls, was she?

Okay, except for that one time.

Coco had arranged a huge party for her 18th birthday. Her parents had graciously let her have the house to herself, provided she didn’t wreck it. As a precaution, they had told Velvet, Coco’s girlfriend, to wrangle Coco in if she started to go overboard. Not that it mattered; Coco had kept everything a secret. Weiss and Velvet had no idea what Coco had planned for her own birthday, but one time Coco had been making a phone call about “strippers in a huge-ass birthday cake” when Weiss had come over to visit. 

When Weiss had shown up to the party, it was filled to the brim with people that she didn’t know, of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. She wasn’t even sure Coco herself knew half these people. 

“Weiss! You made it!” Coco yelled, dragging Velvet along in her wake. Both the girls were wearing bunny girl suits, although Velvet was making every effort to cover herself up with her hands. 

“Coco, what the hell is going on? Who are these people?”

“Weiss, Weiss, don’t worry! I made the party open-invite! The more the merrier! Right?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss spied Velvet furiously shaking her head. This was insane.

“Coco, this is too much. Your parents would kill you if they saw this.”

“I’ll have it cleaned up in the morning! For now just enjoy it!”

And so Weiss had shut up and stayed in the corner. As much as she was worried for Coco, she knew the girl was good at traversing social situations like this. If anything, she was more worried for her own sake. She’d never been in a situation like this. Suddenly, Weiss felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around, coming face to face with a girl with flowing blonde hair and cleavage straining to be contained in her tube dress.

“Hey, why’s a pretty girl like you in the corner all alone?”

And that was all Weiss remembered from that night, except for waking up in a bed alone, along with a note from the girl, expressing her thanks from the night before. Weiss had never seen her again, and had never even remotely attempted something like that since. It’s not that she was scared of her sexuality; she knew her father most likely wouldn’t care as long as she somehow managed to have kids. As strict and traditionalist as he was, he did try to have his kids’ best interests at heart. No, it was mostly because one-night stands weren’t really her style. As she dried herself off, Weiss wondered if she was interested in replicating the experience with Ruby. Did she want to? Was she interested? Did Ruby want to? Was Ruby interested? To be fair, this was a lot of thinking about someone whose last name Weiss didn’t even know. 

Then came an exasperated “shit” from outside, followed by the sounds of someone ransacking her house. Weiss burst out of the bathroom, ready to confront the intruder. 

Which ended up being Ruby, rummaging around her cupboards.

“Ruby, what are you doing?” Weiss asked incredulously.

“Looking for flour.”

“Flour?”

“I was going to make cookies for you, but what I hadn’t taken into account is that you seem to subsist off of Swiss Miss. Your cupboards are empty.”

“Swiss Miss is perfectly acceptable, thank you very much.”

“Not when it’s the only thing in your pantry.”

Weiss sighed and sat on the couch. Weiss had been nice and invited Ruby to her apartment to get out of the rain, and the girl had the nerve to criticize her diet and lifestyle. Ruby, sensing that Weiss was in a bad mood, sat down next to her.

“I didn’t mean to get pushy. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Weiss sighed. “You’re not the first.”

Ruby pulled something out of her pocket and offered it to Weiss.

“Peace offering?”

Cupped in her hands was an origami butterfly. Simple in its construction and folded out of a scrap of white paper, but elegant enough to portray its subject matter. Ruby closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. A warm red light flowed out of her hands and into the butterfly. 

Ruby opened her eyes and smiled at Weiss. She launched the butterfly into the air, and let it soar around Weiss’ living room. Weiss looked at it in astonishment. It looked and acted like a real butterfly, flapping its wings in that uneven keel that made it wobble from side to side.

“Well? What do you think?”

“It’s amazing,” Weiss gasped. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Pretty cool, huh?” Ruby smirked. “It’s a nice little party trick I’ve got.”

“But...how does it work?” Weiss asked.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I’ve had it for as long as I can remember, since I was like 7 or so. My best guess is that I put a little bit of my emotion and soul into it, and it animates it for a bit. The amount I put in matches up with how long it lasts, so the more I put in, the longer whatever I fold stays alive. I didn’t put a lot into this one though, because too much would make me tired.”

“This is revolutionary!” Weiss was intrigued beyond belief. “We could study this! Take some tests, see exactly what moves them. Think about the applications! Artificial intelligence! Prosthetics! Biomimicry in enginee-”

“Weiss, Weiss, calm down.” 

Ruby looked a bit shaken. Weiss bit her tongue in embarrassment. Obviously she would be. Weiss was treating her like a test subject, instead of an actual person. 

“Shit, I’m sorry Ruby.” And she really was. Weiss felt horrible about the way she’d overreacted.

“It’s okay,” Ruby managed a smile. “I just don’t really like flaunting it, you know? Only my friends and family know about it. You’re actually the only person I’ve just straight up told without knowing.”

Ruby locked her shimmering silver eyes with Weiss’ light blue ones and smiled.

“Well, I guess that makes you a friend!”

Weiss was taken aback. A friend? Weiss didn’t have very many of those, and they took a lot longer than this to become her friend. A friend who wasn’t interested in who her parents were, or how much money she had, but rather only cared about her. Just her, nothing more, nothing less.

Oh we go, where nobody goes

Got guns hidden under our petticoats

No we’re never gonna quit it

No we’re never gonna quit it no

As the muffled ringtone came from Ruby’s pocket, she pulled out her phone and answered it.

“Hey, are you here yet?”

A muffled voice came from the other end. Male? Weiss wasn’t exactly if it was a high male voice or a female voice or somewhere in between.

“Okay, I’ll be down in a bit. See you.”

Ruby hung up and put her phone in her pocket.

“Well, looks like my ride’s here,” she said with an exaggerated stretch and yawn. “Let’s get a raincheck for this date.”

Date? This was in no way a date. How could Ruby even consider this a-

Oh. She was teasing her. One look at Ruby’s smirking face said it all

“Okay then. I will gladly take that raincheck for this ‘date’.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Then both of them looked away. Ruby had overstayed her welcome, but she didn’t want to leave.

“Walk me down?”

Weiss and Ruby walked down the stairs to the apartments’ parking lot. The rain had cleared up, and left virtually no clouds in the air. Except for one: a dark gray cloud looming in the otherwise pristine sky. As they got closer, what had appeared to be a cloud took on the shape of a column of smog coming from next to a dumpster. Idling in the guest parking spot, and generating enough smoke to appease a factory, was a beat-up, baby blue minivan. Leaning against the side of the minivan was a boy in a hoodie and slightly baggy jeans with shaggy blonde hair framing his face. He looked up from the ground and a huge smile appeared on his face.

“Ruby!”

And then he noticed Weiss.

“Oh hello there,” he said, clearing his throat. “And who might this be?”

“This is Weiss,” Ruby said. “Weiss, this is Jaune.”

“Jaune Arc,” the boy said, extending his hand. “Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. The ladies love it.”

Weiss didn’t take his hand.

“Not this lady,” she snapped.

“Well, I’ve got to get going!” Ruby said, as she inserted herself between the two. “Weiss, I’ll catch you around next time! Come on Jaune, let’s go!”

“But I wasn’t done-”
“Jaune.”

“Fine.”

As Ruby clambered into the van, Weiss felt a pang in her chest. Ruby was just leaving, and she had no way to contact her. As the van shifted into drive, Weiss knew she had to take a chance.

“Ruby, wait!” she yelled. “How am I supposed to see you again?”

“Call me!” Ruby yelled back, as the van sputtered away.

Call her. 

Weiss had thought about Ruby’s parting statement for the whole day. How was she supposed to call the moron when she didn’t have her phone number? Although, perhaps it was better that Weiss didn’t have Ruby’s number. This way, she could stop thinking about Ruby and focus on moving forward with her life. She hadn’t come to Vale to get into a relationship; she’d come to Vale to learn to be independent and on her own. 

As the heiress lay in bed with her thoughts, she watched the origami butterfly that Ruby had folded for her and left behind soared above her, like it had been doing all day. The winged insect flitted down, until it came to rest on the pillow, next to Weiss’ face. It turned its “face” towards her, and Weiss felt that if it had eyes, it would be looking at her. 

And then, as gracefully as it had entered, the butterfly’s soul left its body in a shimmer of red. 

Weiss stared in amazement at the red embers flickering above her in the air of her bedroom. They looked like little tongues of fire, dancing through the night. It was as if a galaxy had come to life above her bed, just out of reach of her outstretched arms.

Weiss glanced at the butterfly, which lay next to her on her pillow. Picking it up, she realized that it had writing on it. Muttering a quick apology to the origami butterfly’s corpse, she unfolded it.

xxx-xxx-xxxx :D

“Well, I guess that settles it.”

“Wow! It’s so pretty!”

The butterfly garden really was pretty. Even Weiss, who usually hated insects, couldn’t help but be amazed at the beautiful wings flapping overhead. Butterflies were the exception. They came in a kaleidoscope of colors, from orange and black, to white and blue, and came in different sizes and different shapes. 

“Look at this one! Wait no, that one!” Weiss shouted. “I love it here!”

Winter looked down at her little sister clinging onto her and smiled. Their parents were currently away on business, and Whitley had spent the day at a friend’s house. Upon hearing that they had a free day, Weiss had begged Winter to take her somewhere for her “half-birthday, whatever that was. And so, Winter had chosen the butterfly garden that had brought her such joy when she’d gone to visit during a class trip. After all, Weiss loved butterflies. Weiss may have been insistent and stubborn, but, it’s not like Winter minded. In fact, it was the opposite. Winter would give up everything to be able to do this with Weiss everyday, to have her sister holding her hand as tight as it was being held now, and to have her sister have so much wonder and amazement on her face as it did now. 

Not that she didn’t care for Whitley, but Weiss was her sister. They just had a connection that Winter didn’t share with her younger brother. 

“Winter! Look! It landed on my hand!”

And it had. A gorgeous butterfly, that was so blue it looked like it was sculpted from the sea, and so orange that it had to have been composed of autumn leaves. It was breathtaking, and currently on the back of Weiss’ small hand. The little girl stared at the creature in awe.

“It’s beautiful! Like you!”

Weiss turned to Winter and smiled a big toothy grin.

“Thanks for bringing me here! This is the best half-birthday ever!”

Chapter Text

Hi everyone,

To be honest, this is a weird update. I wouldn't say I forgot about Papers, as it's legitimately the only piece of creative writing I've ever done outside of a high school English class, but I started writing this when it was my freshman year of college during the pandemic. I had just watched RWBY for the first time, and I was inspired to write a White Rose fic to try something new, despite never having written anything before. Life happened, and I didn't have the drive to write this anymore, so it just kind of fell by the wayside.

Now I'm in a totally different spot than when I first wrote Papers. I'm about to graduate university in a month, I have a different job, and I'm in a very different place mentally. I never really expected to come back and write more chapters (to be honest every time I look at my writing I shrivel up and die a bit inside), but I got a comment on Papers recently that made its way into my inbox and made me cry a bit. It's kind of touching that some people actually enjoyed this fic, and it makes me really happy. I think I'll try to write a bit more if I'm able to. We'll see where we go from there, but hopefully (fingers crossed!) I can finish the chapter I'm working on and get it out by the end of this week.

Also one big-ish disclaimer: I stopped watching RWBY after Vol. 7 (sorry), so I might not be totally accurate when it comes to character dynamics based on later volumes. I still have a lot of love for RWBY, but Vol. 8 just didn't interest me as much, so I stopped watching. I made a Twitter account that might be fun to use (it'll probably just be anime stuff tbh) but feel free to give me a follow: @sakuyamme

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Standing Heart by Paul Jackson

“So, are you going to tell me who that is?”

Ruby stiffened and sat up straight in the passenger seat. With the help of the quiet and comforting hum of the car’s engine, Ruby had been lost in her thoughts. Feeling her pale cheeks slowly brighten, she turned away from Jaune and looked out the window. 

“What do you mean?” she asked, trying to deflect.

“You know what I mean!” exclaimed Jaune. “I pick you up from someone’s house, someone that I’ve never even heard about, for Pumpkin Pete’s sake, and you’re blushing and wearing their clothes! Not to mention that they’re smoking hot!” The poor boy was practically jumping around in the driver’s seat, threatening to tip over the car.

“Oh that. She’s just a friend.”

“Friend with benefits?” Jaune wagged his eyebrows.

Ruby blushed even more. “Normal friend.”

“Well I’m telling Yang. There’s no way she’ll let you fumble a supermodel.” With all the nervous energy between the two of them, the minivan was in real danger of tipping over.

“Okay, she is kind of hot,” Ruby muttered under her breath. Clearing her throat, she started, “Well if you’re so obsessed with her, why don’t you ask her out? I’ll introduce you guys sometime.”

If I ever hear back from her.

The car rolled to a stop at a red light. Jaune turned to look at Ruby, but Ruby kept her gaze trained on the town passing outside the window.

“As grateful as I would be,” started the blonde, “and I seriously mean it – I would be very grateful – I just have a feeling she isn’t the one for me. I mean, the way she looked at you said it all.”

Ruby snapped her head to look at Jaune.

“The way she...looked at me?”

“Wasn’t it obvious?” Jaune said. “She’s into you. One hundred percent. Call it the Arc Intuition.”

“I’m not calling it that.”

“You have to. It’s copyrighted.”

The tension left the air as Ruby let out a small laugh. This was why she had called Jaune. He wasn’t judging her, and although he truly did want to know exactly what had happened, he wasn’t pushy about it. He was a comforting presence, something she desperately needed in the moment.

“Oh really?” Ruby teased.

“Well...no. But maybe I should just so I can claim royalties.”

As the giggles between them died down, they settled into a comfortable silence. It wasn’t much longer before Jaune arrived at Ruby’s house, pulling up to the sidewalk in front of her front door.

“Alright, we’re here!” Jaune said. “Now get out, I have to go to work after this.”

“I told her,” Ruby muttered.

“What? I didn’t hear what you said.”

“I told her.” Only slightly louder this time.

“What?”

“I TOLD HER!” Ruby yelled.

“Told her what?” Jaune asked.

“My...thing. The paper thing.”

“Whoa,” said Jaune, realizing the significance of her statement. “That’s a big thing to tell. Are you sure you trust her?”

“Yeah, I think I do,” said Ruby. “The funny thing is, I really think I do.”

“Then,” started Jaune, “My next question is: Are you sure you guys are just friends?”

Ruby opened the passenger door of Jaune’s minivan and leapt out.

“Get to work safe,” yelled Ruby, flipping off the blonde as she walked to her front door.

-----

I’ve got to tell Yang about this shit. Ruby’s getting a supermodel girlfriend - absolutely insane. She might finally get into a real relationship and I’m just here, wasting my life away.

As Jaune leaned against the counter of the cash register, he let out a small yawn. His job at the local sports store, “From Dust til Dawn”, wasn’t particularly riveting, but it paid the bills and let him get out of the house. In a house with 6 other sisters under the same roof, Jaune didn’t exactly mind catching a break every once in a while. 

“Excuse me, is this register open?”

Jaune’s eyes snapped back open and turned to the red-haired speaker. With her hair in a high ponytail, keeping it out of her face, her green eyes shone brightly back at Jaune.

“O-oh yeah! It’s definitely open! Totally not closed!”

Whew! I can barely make eye contact with her. Calm down, she comes in all the time. But here’s my chance! I get to talk to her. I get to talk to her. Jaune, you get to talk to her. Just start a sentence–

“Hello? Earth to…Jaune?” The red-haired beauty stared at Jaune, waiting for him to come back to reality.

“T-that’s me! Jaune Arc! Everyone calls me Jaune though…because that’s my name? Jaune?” Jaune’s face was as red as the girl’s hair, and his nervousness was on display for everyone in the store to hear. “Wait…how’d you know my name is Jaune?”

She nodded at his nametag and smirked, “Call it a lucky guess.”

Jaune glanced down at his nametag and somehow turned even more red. “O-oh yeah. Kinda forgot I had this thing on.” Jaune took the long carrying bag from Pyrrha’s grasp and scanned the barcode. “This is a javelin case right? Do you compete?”

The girl flashed a shy smile at Jaune as she slid her credit card, “Mhm. I’m on the Beacon track and field team. I'm not that good though. Still have a lot of practice before I’m where I want to be.” 

Jaune puffed up his chest and reverently handed the bag back to her. “Well I can tell you’re great, so keep your head up! If you ever need a fan, I’ll be right here.”

The girl let out a soft laugh, almost like the sound of tinkling bells and graciously accepted the bag with a bow. 

“Thank you Jaune,” she said with a smile. “I’ll come back and visit my number one fan sometime.”

-----

“Yang? I’m home?” Ruby called as she entered the doorway. She slipped her shoes off by the front door, and shuffled down the hardwood hallway into the living room. As she slid on her socks, she heard a deep snore and a mumble emanating from a pile of pillows on the couch. 

“.... Summer…. It’s time for dinner….” Taiyang mumbled through his deep slumber. His eyes were tightly closed shut, almost as if in pain, and his body, still clad in his oil-stained work coveralls, trembled silently. His thick comforter, which had most likely shaken off by his sleeping psyche, was in a sad, crumpled heap on the floor.

Ruby watched her father shake in his sleep with a sorrowful expression on her face. He’d likely just come home from work, and too tired to do anything else, collapsed on the couch. Zwei, not even coming up to the edge of the couch, lay content on the bundled blanket, occasionally burrowing himself in to make himself more comfortable. Ruby set her bag down, and gingerly made her way to the couch, making sure to avoid all the creaky floorboards (which she had come to hate after years of sneaking into the kitchen at night) in order to not wake up her father. She gingerly picked up Zwei, who let out a little content shake in Ruby’s hand, and draped the blanket over her father. Turning to pick up her bag and head into her room, she turned back and gave him one more look.

With his arms and rough hands wrapped around his skinny torso, as if giving himself a hug, he looked pitiful. He resembled a mummy in a sarcophagus, but as if the mummy, scared of being laid to rest alone, wrapped its arms even further than its chest to comfort itself. Ruby’s father no longer looked like the man he used to, an idol and role model to two young girls and their mother. He was no longer the hero that could perform miracles and do anything for his two girls, but instead looked like a hero defeated, with his will to fight stripped away. Even in a house that had raised two children, and had all the furnishings of a family, Taiyang Xiao Long still looked all alone.

-----

As Ruby stripped out of her clothes, she didn’t let her phone out of her sight, glancing over constantly to see if the screen would light up with a text. As she hopped in the shower, she placed her phone right outside, and after taking a record-breaking sprint of a shower, immediately checked it again. As she put on her pajamas, she propped the phone up on her desk, allowing the screen to face her the entire time. As she slipped her shirt on, the screen lit up, and Ruby snatched the phone immediately.

hey loser

^ i mean that w all the love btw darling little sis

blake is bringing me pizza at work so what kind do you want

i’ll bring the leftovers home bc you probably didn’t eat

also does dad want any

Ruby resisted the urge to grab her pillow and scream into it. She knew she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up, but she had truly thought that Weiss had contacted her after all. It hadn’t even been a day since she had last seen the white-haired beauty, and she didn’t even know what she would say if Weiss did text, but she couldn’t keep her out of her thoughts. Pushing down her disappointment, Ruby grabbed her phone and typed out a response to Yang.

can you get the meat special pls

also dad is here but sleeping so he might eat some when he wakes up

thx love you

Sighing, Ruby flopped back onto her bed, tossing her phone onto the pillow next to her. Resisting the urge to immediately check it again, she closed her eyes and laid there. After what felt like hours, she opened her eyes and slowly sat up. As she mentally steeled herself to work on the homework she had been putting off, her pillow vibrated with a slight buzz. Tentatively picking up her phone, Ruby glanced at the screen.

Is this Ruby? It’s Weiss.

“Holy fuck.”

-----

“Summer, lunch is ready!”

Taiyang stuck his head out of the front door, peering over to glance at his wife sitting on the porch bench. As she cradled her pregnant belly, which was displayed prominently through her light summer dress, Summer turned to look at Taiyang. “Thank you honey, I’ll be inside in a bit.”

Taiyang smiled and turned back to head innside, when he was nearly blown over by a whirlwind of a two year-old. 

“Mama! Food!”

Yang Xiao-Long was nearly the spitting image of her father, both with their blonde hair and their cheerful attitudes. She ran over to her step-mother, tugging on the hem of her dress. Summer leaned down and picked up the young Yang, placing her on her lap with a smile. Yang let out a slight giggle and cuddled into Summer, burrowing her face into the dress.

“I wonder what little Ruby is going to be like,” said Summer. “Will she be as wild as Yang? Or will she be more reserved? Will she have blonde hair like you? Or red like mine? I have so many questions, and I can’t wait to find out.”

“Well, I kind of hope she’s a little less energetic,” smiled Taiyang. “I don’t know if I have the energy to keep up with two Yangs in one house.”

Summer smiled back at Taiyang, and turned down to face the bump protruding through her dress. 

“However Ruby turns out, I know I’m going to love her with all my heart. I can’t say too much else about her, but I’ll always love her. I’ll make sure to pack them cute lunches with notes about how I love them. I’ll make sure to tuck them in at night, even when they’re too old to admit they still want me too.”

“Me too,” said Taiyang. “I’ll always be the best parent I can be for her and Yang. I’ll show up to their sports games, and cook them the best dinners. When I pick them up from school, I’ll ask them how their days were, and they’ll be excited to tell me about everything that happened. They deserve nothing but the best. And I’ll give them nothing but the best."