Work Text:
I'm alive in spite of me
And I'm on the move
So come and look inside of me
Watch me while I bloom~
The door slammed and Ruby flinched, the pen in her hand piercing through the notebook she’d been doodling in. She slipped her headphones away from her ears, tucking them between her neck and the folds of her red-lined hoodie as her attention shifted to the front door. Her heart skipped a beat, but then it always did when her wonderful girlfriend retreated from the world at large back into their apartment of nearly three years.
Spring had came quickly this year, giving Weiss the opportunity to wear her favorite white pencil skirt with matching white blouse draped along her lithe frame. The elbow patches on Weiss’ baby blue blazer held up surprisingly well, Ruby taking some solace in her mending work since Weiss didn’t like delving into her personal savings accounts after being disinherited. She carried her favored black briefcase in one hand while the other clutched onto today’s Atlas Business Journal , Jacques Schnee’s face plastered across the front page. She couldn’t make out the headline, but she didn’t need to given the scowl carved across Weiss’ face.
Ordinarily she liked it when Weiss scowled. Usually it was at her, which meant she was embarrassing Weiss with feelings and emotions and all kinds of things forbidden in the Schnee Mansion. It had only taken Ruby a few months working together in a required Freshman course for her to finally figure out that Weiss was actually happy when she was scowling at her. Although, to her credit, it had taken Weiss longer than her to realize it too.
But this was different. There wasn’t any hint of a grin breaking through her glacial facade. Nor was there a crease in Weiss’ forehead or a furrow in her brows, which meant she wasn’t really even thinking about whatever it was that Jacques had done.
Weiss didn’t look angry, but rather she looked… resigned?
That was unprecedented.
Not in a good way.
Ruby did her best to smile as she swung around in the chair at her desk and stood up to properly greet her diminutive girlfriend. “What did Jacques do this time, Snowflake?”
Weiss didn’t even make eye contact with her as she dropped her briefcase by the well-loved couch before collapsing into one of the cozy, white cushions.
“He bought out Polendina Power.” She tossed the newspaper next to her and slunk into the couch, her clothes wrinkling as she propped her head up with one hand. “No doubt to carve out and destroy like all the other renewable energy companies he has acquired over the years.”
Ruby shifted her weight to one side and crossed her arms in front of her chest, the sleeves of her oversized hoodie slipping down to her elbows. “But Pietro loved your expansion plan and-”
“It wasn’t Pietro.” Weiss sighed, as if she’d been waiting for that remark. “He and Penny had a minority shareholder stake. That snake Watts led a coup from the board. Given the stock increase from the sale announcement, it likely wasn’t a hard sell for him to make to the other greedy shareholders.”
“Do you think Penny already knows?” Ruby tried her best to not be affected by the news, that it affected Weiss and Penny much more than herself. They both had the right to be upset and she had to be strong for both of them.
Penny had Ciel, at least, while Weiss was stuck with her.
Somehow the two of them had gone through worse - Weiss being disinherited had been a nasty rollercoaster of a month - and she could only hope that she could comfort Weiss enough to justify being her girlfriend. There were some days that still felt unreal and, evidently, today was one of them.
Ruby chewed on the inside of her lip. Now she was making this about herself.
Some girlfriend she was being.
“Most likely.” Weiss squeezed the red, floral pillow in her lap as her knuckles whitened. Her eyes stared at the carpet in front of them, despite knowing that Ruby was lingering over her. “I really thought their solar panel had a chance in the market.”
That last sentence came out as a mumble and Weiss never mumbled.
“But you laid out in your plan that they wouldn’t achieve substantial growth?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Or that’s what you said in your capstone presentation anyway last December.”
It had been hard to keep track of all the business and econ jargon that Weiss spoke flawlessly during her own senior capstone presentation in December, but Ruby thought she had caught that much. Even if it had been hard to pay attention to the presentation and not those piercing eyes and determined stare that Weiss wore like both armor and makeup. Weiss had been coasting through their last semester of college, by her own standards anyway, in order to coordinate the two of them joining Pietro’s company and finding a new apartment in Mantle.
Now, Ruby chewed on her bottom lip, that plan had changed just a little. Or a lot, she admitted to herself, but right now she had to focus on Weiss. She could deal with her own feelings later.
“Not without developing their own battery for long-term storage or hoping someone else brought one to market.” Weiss tapped her fingers against the arm of the couch, talking more to herself than Ruby who stared on as her girlfriend processed a thought. “Without that improved battery capable of holding electricity for longer periods of time, solar and wind energy are always going to lag behind fossil fuels in terms of price. As if Jacques needs the help to keep Schnee Drilling Company at the top.”
“Snowflake?” Ruby asked, breaking Weiss' train of thought as those bright blue eyes shifted to focus on her.
“Yes?” Weiss looked up at her, tears collecting at the red rims of her eyes.
Ruby cleared her throat and tried her best to keep the concern out of her voice. “You’re normally a little more…”
“Enraged? Furious? Bit-”
“Passionate!” Ruby corrected before throwing the newspaper to one side and sitting next to Weiss. She wrapped one arm around her girlfriend’s shoulder, gently guiding the smaller woman's head into her lap. Her fingers found purchase in Weiss' scalp, gently massaging and scratching as Weiss looked down at the coffee table. “What’s different?”
“I’m tired of fighting, Ruby, and wishful thinking is a waste of time.” Weiss sank further into her touch, Ruby rewarded with a grateful sigh for her efforts. “We’re about to graduate in a few weeks and we just lost our best job offers now that Pietro won’t be hiring us. Besides, Jacques is never going to let go of the SDC until it’s too late for us to stop the worst of potential climate change.”
“Weiss...” Ruby trailed off, uncertain of what to say.
“Ruby, don’t start. I’m not in the mood and you need to focus on your capstone project so you can graduate. Then we can graduate in a few weeks and in the meantime I’ll figure something out.” Weiss turned her attention back up to Ruby. “How is your capstone going anyway? I haven’t seen you working on it at all lately.”
“It’s… changing into something new, I think.” Ruby nodded to herself. “Still working on the details.”
Weiss rolled her eyes with a huff. “You only have a few weeks until your presentation, meine Schätze .”
“I promise it’ll be worth it.”
In truth she had been finished with her Senior Capstone project for some time now but it wasn’t anything special. Certainly nothing that would restore the sparkle in Weiss’ dulled eyes or the determination chiseled into her face, but the exact sort of project to get a safe ‘A’ on and complete her last graduation requirement.
Weiss always loved her handmade gifts the most, so if Weiss wished for an optimized solar battery?
Ruby would hang the stars in the sky for Weiss if she could.
How hard could a battery be?
***
Ruby passed by the bathroom, Weiss’ melodic voice carrying through the shower and the closed door to liven up the apartment. She lingered, only for a moment, before turning the corner into the living room.
A steaming mug of hot cocoa sat off to the side of her desk, a mound of marshmallows cresting over the sides of the hand-crafted mug Weiss had made her at one of those do-it-yourself pottery stores on one of their first dates. It was supposed to look like her dog Zwei, still at home with Dad in Patch, according to Weiss. Ruby didn't really see the resemblance, but she wasn't about to argue with artistic license.
Regardless, Ruby wasn’t worried about Weiss finding anything out about her surprise project. There were a couple of half-finished schematics spread across the table, nothing too definitive or clearly labeled for Weiss to truly understand at first glance. Ruby had toyed with a few different approaches so far, none of which were the least bit promising but that also meant Ruby hadn’t bothered detailing any of them out to the point that Weiss could understand yet.
She took a sip out of the mug, holding the unevenly crafted cup with both hands, and discovered a post-it note that had been hidden underneath the mug.
A doodle of a snowflake and flower petals, Ruby assumed to be rose petals, adorned the post-it note and Ruby grinned.
It was atrocious, but that was why Ruby loved them so much. Weiss never let herself be anything less than perfect in front of anyone else and so having real proof of Weiss’ flawed capabilities as an artist was almost a better gift than the doodle itself.
She made a note to make the doodle into another magnet to adorn their fridge and, if anybody asked, she made this doodle.
Just like all the others.
***
A bird chirped outside her window and Ruby yawned.
It must be an owl for a bird to be up at this time of night.
She had only dozed off for a few minutes, surely, but then her desk lamp wasn’t normally this bright and-
Crud.
Her eyes cracked open as she fought back another yawn, the morning sun greeting her through the window. Weiss had put a pillow under her head and a blanket over her shoulders.
She’d slept at her desk.
Again.
Weiss hated when she passed out like this at her desk and not in the comfort of their bed. She knew her Snowflake grew up in a cold, unforgiving household made only chillier by Winter’s enrollment in the Atlesian military and Willow’s retreat into her wine bottles. The way that Weiss snuggled into her every night was its’ own affirmation of Weiss’ trust and love.
She made sure to treasure every night they spent cuddling up together and she hated sleeping apart too, but she knew it’d be worth it. Ruby could only hope that she was worth that vulnerability and that, maybe, Weiss could forgive her absence in their bed when Weiss saw the culmination of her efforts.
Ruby would just have to work harder.
Nothing was going to stand in her way of helping Weiss achieve her dream.
Nothing .
***
Ruby tapped the eraser of her pencil against the schematic she’d finished drawing up. There were just a few more details she needed to capture about this latest flash of brilliance that she needed to bottle before she lost it.
“Ruby?” Weiss asked, standing off to one side.
Ruby hummed back in response. She could feel Weiss staring right at her, but she was a little preoccupied to look back at her girlfriend.
“I know your presentation is in a week, and your dedication is commendable, but do you know what day it is?” There was something in Weiss’ tone that Ruby knew was off, but she didn’t know how and if she didn’t focus then-
“It’s Friday, Weiss.” Ruby fought back a sigh, her thoughts derailing from the metaphorical train track. She dropped the pencil onto her desk before running her hands through her spiked, red-tipped hair and turning to look at her girlfriend. “But I’m too close to take a break.”
Sodium had been a promising material, until she realized that the battery would need to be capable of recharging for it to truly be useful and that it wouldn't work in a water-based anode and cathode. That had only been a wasted seventy two hours, but who was counting?
Sulfur was a promising material and she’d been able to take a small amount of it out of the labs. Dr. Oobleck hadn’t minded a bit. Sulfur was cheap and a byproduct of many other chemical reactions, perfect both for her own experimentation and for Weiss’ real world applications. Provided that it worked.
There was no need for her to get ahead of herself. A few promising leads had all fizzled out and there was no sense in thinking that this would be any different.
That didn’t mean she was quitting though. Not by a long shot.
She needed to clean the mockup test unit she had built to scrub the sodium out of the sulfur anode compartment and then distill the sulfur into a water solution before depositing it into the anode compartment. It’d be ideal if she could recharge the battery tonight so that she could measure how much energy it had lost by the morning. That would save her from wasting a whole day, even if she would have to stay up again to get to that point and-
“Ruby?” Weiss stared at her, coughing politely into her closed fist.
Ruby blinked before grinning back at her girlfriend. She’d forgotten Weiss was still standing there.
“I thought we might have a date tonight but if you’re busy...” Weiss trailed off. Her hair was done up in an asymmetrical ponytail like it had been when they’d first started dating and the silver shimmer off her eyelids made those blue eyes of hers even brighter than usual.
Ruby swallowed. Weiss had even put on one of her old tulle skirts and her devious girlfriend knew exactly how Ruby felt about those.
She meekly looked back at her nearly finished schematic. Her presentation was in a week to the day. If she wasn’t so close to finishing this new project of hers, it would have been a no-brainer to wrap up and get ready. “Can I have a rain check?”
“Of course.” Weiss nodded with a tight-lipped smile, not even the silver eyeshadow making up for the dulling of her eyes as she clutched her purse. “I’ll go out on my own then.”
Ruby blinked.
Weiss really was in a bad mood if she wasn’t even going to fight Ruby on that.
That only meant she had to work even harder for her Snowflake.
***
Ruby stuck her tongue out as she pinched the tiny screwdriver between her thumb and pointer finger. She fought back a yawn as best she could, the flathead screw barely resting in the hole after like dozens of times trying to install it. If she could only get the battery sealed then it would be ready for some live tests and-
Her scroll rattled along her desk and the screw went flying away from her. She fought back a sigh. The stupid thing was probably lost in the crevice between the couch and the desk or, knowing her awful luck tonight, back behind the TV stand again.
Somehow.
She was an engineer, not a physicist.
Her scroll had stopped ringing by the time she picked it up. She expected a call from Weiss letting her know that she was on her way back on home from her trip to the mall. Her girlfriend had gone out by herself after she’d taken the raincheck on Weiss’ proposed date and it was starting to get late.
Without thinking she dialed back.
“Rubes!” Yang shouted over the line. “You live!”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic.”
“When you haven’t called your favorite sister in over two weeks-”
“I’m your only sister!”
“-and I haven’t even received so much as a text message, I can get a little worried. So what’s up?”
Yang must really have missed her to call on a Friday evening like this. She knew the most visible parts of her sister’s modeling career mostly took place on the weekends except for the odd interview here and there.
“Just working on my capstone project.” Ruby side-eyed the remaining half-dozen screws at her desk. “Nearly with a finished model, which is great since I’m only a week away from presenting.”
“How’s Weissicle? You two still madly in love?” Yang asked like she wasn’t even trying to tease her, like Yang wasn’t even smirking on the other line.
“She’s okay, I think. The Polendina buyout put her in a foul mood and she hasn’t really gotten over it yet.” Ruby fought back another sigh. It had been weeks since Weiss had worn a proper smile. “She’s out shopping right now.”
Yang laughed. “You let her go to the mall alone?”
“Hey!” Ruby protested. “She’s gotten better at budgeting!”
The first few months after Weiss’ disinheritance had been rough, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Yang so long after the fact.
“That’s not-” Yang cut herself off. “Nevermind, Rubes.”
“I’m hoping my capstone will make her feel better once it’s finished.” Maybe Yang would take the hint.
“Well, if anyone can get her in a good mood, it’s you.”
“Here’s hoping. I miss seeing her smile.” If only she had Yang’s level of confidence in herself.
“Ha. Gay.”
“Shut it!” Ruby shouted at her scroll. “Are you going to be at our graduation?”
“Wouldn’t miss you and Weissicle’s graduation for the world.” Warmth infused Yang’s voice as she softened, pivoting hard from teasing back to loving. “Love you.”
Ruby smiled, even if Yang couldn’t see it. “Love you more.”
Ruby laid her phone down before huffing at the pile of screws and picking up a new one. She’d get it right this time.
***
The lab door creaked open and Ruby blearily looked up from her worktable to see Penny in a green work apron and donning a pair of goggles that almost made her look like some sort of android.
“Salutations, Ruby!” Penny chirped as she skipped towards her.
“Hey-” Ruby yawned despite her best efforts. “Penny.”
“I did not anticipate seeing you here tonight.” Penny took her goggles off, followed by the green apron that she folded in half and laid on the table. She tugged at the edges of her green coveralls and fixed the hem of her white shirt, some black residue from whatever Penny had just finished doing having spotted her shirt.
“I thought I’d stop by the lab one last time before graduation, run a few last-minute quality control checks, and prepare my talk.” Ruby tapped her pen against the half-written note cards in front of her as if to prove she was actually working.
She wasn’t technically lying. Weiss had been distant for the past week since she had rainchecked on their date and Ruby knew she had to make it up to her later. Her girlfriend had made it fairly clear that she was in no mood to continue tolerating her late nights at their apartment and so Ruby had relocated her work to her favorite engineering lab.
It was probably safer for the purposes of testing her model battery anyway, not to mention that there wasn’t any carpet for loose screws to hide in.
“What are you working on?” Penny looked at the relatively small, compact black case next to Ruby.
Aside from the steel-plated negative and positive covers on the side of the model, there really wasn’t much to hint at the black case’s purpose. It certainly didn’t look like a conventional battery given the timeframe and budget. “This is an aqueous sulfur and an aerated liquid salt water solution flow battery.”
“That is sensational!” Penny cocked her head to one side and blinked. “I believe?”
Right. Penny had studied to be a software engineer, not an electrical or hardware expert. It was hard to remember that sometimes given her work under Pietro where she had evidently dabbled in anything and everything. Penny knew just enough about most things to get by, but wasn’t an expert in anything that didn’t involve a computer terminal.
Thank goodness she knew someone who could program, it was all nonsense and gibberish to Ruby. Maybe she would do better if she could sit still for longer, but then Ruby doubted that was the only reason why she wasn’t more fond of coding.
“Sulfur is a cheap and plentiful resource that is also an energy dense material, which is perfect for storing electricity. The salt water solution provides the mechanism by which the battery can both charge and discharge by taking oxygen in and out of the system.” Ruby tapped the top of the battery case with a grin. “It would be a much smaller battery to store the same level of energy as in a traditional lithium battery, making it both economically cheaper and more portable than current technology allows.”
In short, it hit every requirement that Weiss had laid out a month ago.
Or at least Ruby hoped so.
“And this is your capstone project?” Penny asked wide-eyed.
“Is it not enough-”
“Ruby!” Penny interrupted with a beaming smile. “This is truly phenomenal work! My Father had teams of engineers working on this very concept before...” Penny swallowed, wrapping her arms around her own torso.
“You don’t have to say it.” Ruby fought back a grimace. “Weiss and I are angry about what happened too.”
Despite the very public disinheritance, Weiss still shouldered the sins of Jacques as if they were her own. Ruby was determined to help lift that burden off of her.
“I do not yet know what I will be doing post-graduation.” Penny rocked back and forth in her boots, chewing on her lower lip. Her eyes darted between the battery model, the workstation, and Ruby in quick succession as her hands fell to rest on the edge of the workstation. “I hope we stay friends, Ruby.”
“We will.” Ruby leaned over her work and laid her hands on top of Penny’s, giving them a gentle squeeze. “You can worry about a lot of things, but don’t worry about that.”
Penny took a deep breath and returned the affection by squeezing onto Ruby’s fingers before letting go. She looked at the clock on the wall, nodding to herself. “In that case, I do worry that you won’t go home soon and get some rest.”
Ruby nodded, having already picked up her pen again to resume plotting out her presentation. “I’m not planning on being here long, just writing out a few last notecards.”
Content with the response, Penny collected her things off the workbench, traded smiles with Ruby, and closed the lab doors behind her.
Her presentation was in the morning and she knew she needed some amount of sleep beforehand. It wouldn’t do her any good to be fully prepared if she couldn’t wake up, but she would flounder during her talk if she wasn’t prepared.
***
Backpack? Check. Model Battery? Check. The dress shoes with the comfy soles? Matching socks? Belt? Rose Cologne? Mom’s lucky watch with the silhouette of a rose in the clock face? The black and red checkered tie that Weiss bought for their first anniversary? Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. And check.
Still, Ruby ran a light layer of hair gel through her scalp to massage her hair up into her signature spikes, something felt off. Her makeup was done, minimal as it was, with sharp eyeliner and mascara applied like Weiss had taught her. She washed her hands in the bathroom sink and double checked to see if anything was lodged in her teeth. Nothing seemed out of place.
So why did it feel like she was forgetting something?
She slipped her backpack over one shoulder and tucked her battery under one armpit before leaving their only-slightly-cramped bathroom towards the kitchen. Weiss was busy at the sink, cleaning up the last of the omelettes and toast she’d made for the two of them this morning.
“Thank you for the breakfast, Weiss!” Ruby chirped over the running sink.
“Of course.” Weiss stopped the sink and cocked an eyebrow as she looked over at Ruby, only slightly biting her bottom lip. “Is there anything else you want me to do?”
Ruby cocked her head to one side with a grin. She knew how Weiss felt about her in a proper suit, which she considered to be payback after that gorgeous tulle skirt that Weiss wore out last Friday. “Only to be the most stunning audience member in attendance?”
“Naturally.” Weiss smirked and, despite wearing those atrocious yellow rubber gloves and half-submerged in dirty water, Ruby swore she was the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen.
If it wasn’t already nine she would have-
Ruby paused.
It was already nine?
“I’m running late!” Ruby jumped in her shoes, darting towards the door.
“Don’t forget your thermos!” Weiss called out over the sink running.
That had been what she was forgetting!
“Thank you so, so much!” Ruby shouted back. “Wish me luck, love you, bye!”
Ruby fled before she had a chance to hear the response, but she knew she got one.
***
Ruby dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands until they hurt.
She had forgotten her note cards at home on her desk and had discovered it too late.
Nora was nearly finished with her presentation on optimizing electrical current over long distances. If the red-head hadn’t blown through her talk and straight into the Q&A portion of the allotted half hour, Ruby might have considered sprinting back home or asking Weiss to get them.
Ruby was up next and it was too late.
All that work for nothing.
All of her friends over the past few years would take off into whatever journey awaited them in a few days after graduation and she would be leaving with them. She couldn’t do coffee dates with Penny, eat brunch with Ren and Nora, go paintballing with Pyrrha, or hike with Jaune. No more afternoon chats with Dr. Oobleck or Dr. Port.
She couldn’t even count how many dates with Weiss she had turned down to all their favorite places that they’d found over the past four years of being friends and the past three as lovers.
Her breathing turned shallow and quick as she gripped the sleeves of her blazer.
They couldn’t just walk down the street hand-in-hand and grab a bagel from The Courier Cafe on their way to class in the morning. No more pizza-by-the-slice from Vinny who always saved a slice of triple-cheese ready and waiting for her after classes and, better yet, saved Weiss and her their table every Friday night since Ruby brought Weiss there for their first date three years ago. She doubted she’d ever find a better double-double chocolate-chip cookie and coffee than those at BrewLab! They were even open until midnight! On weekdays!
She had turned into a hermit for the last month of school.
For nothing.
She ran her hands through her hair and clutched at her scalp, distantly realizing that she’d fallen backwards into a chair at some point but couldn’t recall when.
Why did she think she could do this?
Ruby used to know better. Her High School nickname had been “Wreck-it Ruby” for a reason and in her arrogance of the last four years she’d forgotten how she could always mess things up and-
A light pressure danced along the back of her blazer.
“ Meine Schätze , breath with me.” Weiss hummed sweetly next to her, pulling Ruby into a side hug as her hand continued to trace meaningless patterns along Ruby’s back.
“W-Weiss?” Ruby swallowed the mucus in her throat that threatened to choke her, tapping her hand anxiously against her kneecap. “W-what are you d-doing back here?”
She winced at the tremor in her voice, but she couldn’t stop it.
“You’ve been running yourself ragged and I noticed your presentation notes still on your desk this morning.” Weiss smiled at her, gesturing to the rubber-banded batch of notecards jutting out from her purse, and squeezed Ruby even tighter. “You’ve always hated public speaking, so I was… concerned.”
“You d-didn’t have to-”
“I wanted to, Ruby.” Weiss cooed as she interlaced her fingers with Ruby’s, the hint of freshly fallen snow tickling Ruby’s nose despite her snottiness. “You are always so hard on yourself.”
“I just- I just wanted to do this presentation for you.” Ruby sucked in a deep breath, desperately aware that she needed to regain control of her breathing. “And now I ruined it with all this-” Ruby gestured to her puffy eyes and running nose. She had to look positively awful and she was about to take the stage any minute.
Weiss grabbed a small packet of tissues out of her purse and quirked her lip as she pulled out a tissue. “For me?”
Her girlfriend folded the tissue and dabbed it gently at the corners of Ruby’s eyes. Weiss stared into her eyes and Ruby almost wanted to look away, feeling the flush on her cheeks, but Weiss moved on to her upper lip with a second tissue. After a few more tissues dabbed at Ruby’s face, Weiss was evidently satisfied enough as she kissed Ruby on the nose.
Ruby giggled and reflexively scrunched up her face before shaking her head a couple of times. “You were so angry at Jacques and for once I thought I could do something to help but-”
“Ruby.” Weiss took her hands in her own and gripped them, pleading with her. “You spent so much time on your capstone. Don’t do it for me, don’t do it to spite Jacques, even if I love both of those reasons, but do it for yourself. You worked so, so hard on this.”
“You don’t even know what I did-”
“I don’t have to know what it is to love it because it is a part of you.” Weiss ran a solitary finger along Ruby’s jawline and, content she had Ruby’s complete attention, gripped her chin between her thumb and forefinger. Weiss laughed, shaking her head to and fro, and her entire face lit up in the brightest smile that Ruby had ever seen. “I love you.”
Weiss leaned in, holding Ruby in place, and pressed a kiss to her lips so gentle that Ruby would’ve thought she was imaging it if her eyes weren’t open. Ruby reciprocated the kiss, nuzzling Weiss’ forehead with her own, as her fingers sought the comfort of Weiss’ free hand.
Ruby knew she wore a dopey smile on her face as they broke from their intimate embrace. “I love you too.”
Nora skipped off the auditorium stage to polite applause and gave Ruby two thumbs up before jumping into Ren’s arms behind the curtains.
“I was told that I needed to be the most stunning member in the audience today, so if you’ll excuse me.” Weiss was still smiling as she stood up, both hands outstretched with a bundle of notecards in one and the other to help Ruby up. “Blow them away.”
Suddenly, this presentation didn’t seem to matter nearly as much any more.
***
Ruby assisted Weiss into her booth seat in the back corner of Vinny’s before taking her own seat across from her girlfriend.
She was aware that the red and white checkered tablecloth, the slightly off-kilter lighting overhead, and the worn down booth seating hadn’t been up to Weiss’ standards three years ago. It had been the best that Ruby could afford at the time and, if nothing else, Weiss had made it very clear that night as they walked along the riverfront that she believed Ruby was up to her standard.
Eating ramen and multi-vitamins for the next week had been worth that evening.
Some days, even with Weiss’ newfound appreciation for budgeting and thrift, Ruby wasn’t sure if Vinny’s met Weiss’ standards now.
She wasn’t really sure how she had forgotten that Weiss made it exceptionally clear that Ruby was up to her standard each and every day since. Weiss had learned how to make the perfect cocoa despite hating how sweet it was. Doodles of snowflakes and roses dotted the entirety of their fridge at home, each and every one a Weiss original. Her girlfriend even loved Yang despite a less-than-stellar introduction.
Weiss flipped her hair, smiling to herself as she looked over the menu for show. “Thank you for finally taking me out on this date.”
“I gave you a rain check!” Ruby laughed, rolling the sleeves of her black blazer up. Pizza was always messy and she was already gambling with the white blouse she wore. “You know I’m good for it.”
“I…” Weiss’ shoulders drooped as she hesitated, the spaghetti straps of her icy blue silk blouse crinkling along her immaculate collar bones. “I thought you were mad at me, you know.”
“I could never-”
“Last Friday wasn’t just a random evening when I asked you if you wanted to go on a date.” Weiss shook her head, waves of white hair cascading off her shoulders. “You forgot our three year anniversary.”
Ruby froze. That explained so much about that night. Why Weiss had her hair up in that asymmetrical ponytail and not her usual long braid, why Weiss had worn a tulle skirt that night. “Imatotalidiotandhowdidthathappenohmygod-”
Weiss smirked. “That’s why I had Yang call you after I left.”
“And she didn’t tell me I messed up?” Ruby did her best not to screech that out at the top of her lungs. Ordinarily Yang would’ve pounced on something that big and really tore into her for it. She was sure that she’d never hear the end of it now that the dust had settled, but she wasn’t sure if Weiss or Yang would bring it up more often.
“I told her about how much effort you were putting into your capstone project.” Weiss giggled, intertwining her perfectly manicured fingers with Ruby’s. “We both know how you can get about your work, I wasn’t about to make you feel bad when it was an honest mistake. Once Yang told me you weren’t mad at me, just in one of your obsessive moods, I knew you wouldn’t snap out of it until you finished your project.”
“You’re too good for me.” Ruby foolishly protested without a second thought, only belatedly realizing that Weiss wouldn’t ignore that self-deprecating comment.
“Ruby, you started a whole new capstone project because I was upset. Not only did you finish that theoretical model, which solved a problem that an untold number of research labs have been working on for years, but you also built a functional, if small, example in about five weeks.” Weiss took her hands and squeezed them as tight as she could, as if Weiss could make her physically feel her love. “You are incredible, meine Schätze , and I hope one day you can believe that.”
“When you put it that way…” Ruby murmured. “T-thanks?”
“I will tell you that for as long as it takes for you to believe it yourself and then I will keep telling you anyway because I love you-”
“I love you too, Snowflake.”
The smile on Weiss’ face froze and a chill ran down Ruby’s spine. She recognized this smile, the one Weiss wore right before eviscerating someone, and tried not to wince in advance. “But if you ever cancel another date because of work, especially for our anniversary, you will be sleeping on the couch for a month. Do I make myself clear, Ruby Rose?”
“Crystal.” Ruby tried not to laugh, knowing she had gotten off relatively easy, and her eyebrows furrowed. “But you liked my presentation, right?”
“Ruby,” Weiss giggled as if the answer was painfully obvious, “how long do you think it would take to scale up that example you built to an industrial size for mass production?”
“Probably a few years, but it’d be quicker if I had help.” Ruby tapped along the booth table, re-running a few possible scenarios in her head and nodded as she contented herself with that estimate. She tilted her head to one side, cocking an eyebrow as she stared at her girlfriend. “Why?”
“I have an idea for a post-graduation opportunity.” Weiss leaned over the table with a toothy grin. “Do you trust me?”
“Always and forever.”