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Growing up, Ruby always reminded Yang of a puppy. Excitable, energetic, adorable, and full of love. She’d run up to Yang, talking her head off about something cool she found, and Yang couldn’t help but smile and ruffle her sister’s hair. Ruby would grin and Yang would look at her like the sun was shining out of her face. (Not literally; that would have hurt.)
And when Zwei appeared in their lives, as part of their dad’s efforts to heal the scars from Summer’s death, Yang saw the sun shining out of him too. The resemblance was astounding, even across species. Some days, Yang would joke to Ruby about her lack of dog ears because clearly she was a Faunus somehow. Little Ruby stuck her tongue out and tackled her sister, both of them laughing gleefully. And Yang loved her with her entire heart.
Zwei was always her dad’s puppy, but Ruby was hers.
So every once in a while Yang would call her just that. Ruby would still stick her tongue out, but she’d giggle and blush and hug her tightly. Yang would kiss the top of her head and tell her how much she loved her. And Zwei would come bolting over and jump onto them, making them burst into a fit of laughter as the dog tried to be on both of their laps at the same time. It always ended in disaster, but Ruby was always smiling.
She never really outgrew the nickname. Even when they went to Signal, Ruby was always Yang’s little puppy. Friends might have thought it was cute, or dorky, or childish, but none of them were ever around when Yang said it. It was their thing, and it was good like that.
Then one day at Beacon, while Weiss was studying, Blake was reading, and Yang was listening to music, Ruby came into the room crying.
Yang bolted upright, jumped to the floor, and wrapped her in a hug. Ruby sank into her arms, burying her face in her chest and sobbing. Yang held her until she quieted, murmuring shhhhs and it’s okays into her hair. Rubbing her back and humming her lullaby. Blake came over and hugged Ruby from behind, and Weiss put a comforting hand on her partner’s shoulder.
When Ruby finally stopped, sniffling and pulling back to thank her teammates, Yang kissed her forehead and asked her without thinking, “You okay, puppy?”
Ruby went bright red. Weiss blinked, taken aback, while Blake smiled and cocked an eyebrow.
“Puppy?” Blake asked, amused. Weiss rolled her eyes, shaking her head, and patted Ruby’s shoulder once before going back to her bunk. Ruby looked positively affronted.
“Yaaaang,” she whined under her breath. Yang kissed her head again in apology.
“Oops.”
“You embarrass me enough already.” Ruby joked, headbutting Yang’s collarbone lightly.
“I think it’s cute,” Blake offered. Ruby just groaned and Blake laughed quietly before returning to her own bed.
Ruby pulled back, faking a scowl, before crinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out playfully, like she always did. Yang grinned, tousling Ruby’s hair.
“Love you, puppy.”
Ruby growled and punched Yang’s stomach. Yang doubled over, half out of playfulness but half in surprise at her little sister’s strength. The two giggled over it anyway.
Yang brought the name back every once in a while. Ruby would still pretend to be embarrassed, but she couldn’t pretend not to enjoy the affection. It was still her and Yang’s thing, but it wasn’t some dark secret.
And then it started to catch on.
Blake said it first. After a long day of classes, Ruby was exhausted and stressed, and Blake offered to help her unwind, since Yang was at the gym and Weiss was in the library. (Blake figured Weiss wouldn’t have helped anyway.) Ruby was eager for something other than schoolwork to concentrate on, so she agreed.
Blake waved a hand, motioning for Ruby to join her in her bed as she retrieved one of her books with the other. Ruby sat down on the edge, far away from her teammate, awkward and unsure, but Blake patted the space next to her. Ruby blushed, but Blake ignored it, beckoning her closer.
“It’s okay. C’mon, puppy.”
Ruby sat straight up, surprise filling her face. Blake paled, afraid she’d overstepped, worrying that she’d been too affectionate, anxiety filling her brain. But then, Ruby grinned, pink coloring her cheeks, and crawled over, snuggling into Blake’s side. Blake relaxed, squeezing Ruby’s shoulders as they settled down. Ruby kissed Blake’s cheek, and it was Blake’s turn to blush, and Ruby buried her face in Blake’s shoulder. Blake smiled fondly and kissed Ruby’s head before opening her book and starting to read. Ruby’s smile lasted the entire night.
Blake didn’t use the nickname as often as Yang, but it only seemed to make it more meaningful when she did. Ruby got used to it fast, more than happy to be given affection. They’d read together every so often, and sometimes Ruby would stay the night in Blake’s bed. Yang got over her jealousy easily, assuring Ruby that it was good to see her feeling loved.
Weiss, on the other hand, was never free with affection. She wasn’t a cuddler by nature like Blake, or casually physical like Yang. She was reserved, careful with her words and actions. Ruby occasionally knocked on Weiss’s emotional walls, and it seemed to her like the door opened just a little wider each time. She learned tidbits about Weiss’s life before Beacon, about her personality, about her fears. She worked her way up to more frequent hugs, and when Ruby grinned at her, Weiss would smile back. Ruby was glad she was making progress.
Every once in a while the team would take trips into Vale, whether it was for clothing, social interaction, or a break from the dining hall’s repetitive menu. Today, it was just Ruby and her partner, out shopping for materials for a class project they were doing. Ruby, being the excitable girl she was, couldn’t stop talking about all of the cool things from the most recent Weapons Weekly. Weiss, busy with triple-checking their shopping list, held out a hand to shush her. Ruby insisted, shaking her teammate’s shoulder, and Weiss gently removed Ruby’s hand and spoke up distractedly.
“Not now, puppy.”
It took Weiss all of one second to realize what she’d said. When she did, her face colored to match Ruby’s cloak. Ruby gasped, covering her mouth to hide her growing grin.
Weiss groaned, aware of what was about to happen, and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the coming storm.
But none came. Cautiously, she peeked at Ruby, and discovered that the girl was just staring at her, eyes sparkling, hands doing nothing to help conceal the absolute joy that her smile betrayed.
“Weiss,” she whispered, sounding awed. “You really do like me!” she exclaimed.
Weiss sighed, rolling her eyes. She looked back at Ruby, smiling, and rapped her knuckles against her partner’s head.
“Took you long enough to figure it out, dolt.”
Ruby squealed with unbridled excitement. She practically tackled Weiss, body slamming into her at Semblance-aided speed. Weiss felt the air leave her lungs for a brief moment before it returned, and she chuckled.
“Come on, Ruby, we have shopping to do.”
Ruby just grinned and kissed Weiss’s cheek, bringing the flush to the heiress’s face once more.
“I’m still not sure how I feel about those!” she exclaimed. It was a lie.
She loved them.