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Mantle was pretty, Penny concluded. She'd rarely had a chance to see the city from anything but a bird's eye view, always flying above the rooftops and landing briefly to fight Grimm or stop a crime. As Protector of Mantle, she didn't really have time to appreciate much of the city from the ground, always having to be in the air on the lookout and ready to respond as fast as possible.
But now she didn't have to do that anymore! Now that Ruby and her friends were here, General Ironwood let her accompany them on their missions since they had more hunters available! It was sensational! She could appreciate the streets of Mantle, and with Ruby! That's not to say she didn't like Ruby's other friends, any friend of Ruby was hers and more friends is always great, but Ruby was just, special. Penny had asked Yang about it, since she seemed to treat Blake the same way she treated Ruby, but half of it was denial towards her question about Blake and the other half teasing that she did not understand. But after some more asking around she finally understood. She was in love with Ruby, just like how Yang and Blake were but for some reason were not doing anything about it.
But enough of that! Penny was a direct person and so, when she had realized her feelings, decided to confess to Ruby. She was told she couldn't just say it upfront however, it had to be special! And Penny knew how to be special, she was an expert in planning special occasions!
Which brought her to her original point. Mantle was pretty. Penny never understood why people called Atlas beautiful and Mantle ugly. Well she did, she just didn't get why they saw it that way. She thought Atlas drab and monotone, all the buildings white or grey and the occasional one with some color. Sure they were clean and architecturally impressive with bright neon colors but they weren't exactly 'beautiful', they felt more fake than anything.
Penny adored Mantle's infrastructure though. The buildings were smaller and made of a much wider variety of materials. Stone, brick, concrete and in the poorer places mere wood were used to keep out the cold, but she found that it made it feel more alive. There were people about as there were in any city, along with bright signs, billboards and such, but for some reason, Penny felt it was more alive than Atlas. People were out mingling and talking, organizing a rally, or just being with others in general. It was part of the reason why she chose it as the place where they'd have their unofficial as-of-yet date.
Penny had done extensive research on the subject of love and had decided on a plan perfect for Ruby. First, they would go on a mission together in Mantle to make Ruby think they were just 'hanging out' as Yang would say. Then, according to Blake, Ruby would surely work up some kind of hunger after it and thus they would eat at a restaurant Yang had recommended to Penny. And finally, she would take the two of them to one of Mantle's highest buildings, thanks to some help from Winter, and confess right then and there. It was a great plan! Blake and Yang told her so. Penny wondered then why they would not enact it also to confess their feelings. Perhaps they were nervous? She filed it away for another time.
As of now, the two of them were heading to an office building that still had seen some use, mainly from Robin Hill's election campaign, and was high enough to suit Penny's purposes. Ruby had quite enjoyed the meal and dessert provided at the restaurant. Once she saw the stars in her eyes upon seeing the strawberries and cream Penny knew for sure her plan was working. The warm, fuzzy feeling in her circuits also helped.
They finally arrived at their destination., a dull brown building that was around twenty to thirty stories with posters of Robin Hill on the entrance. The people at the front desk were nice enough, waving to them and smiling, and soon they were on the elevator going to the rooftop. Penny could barely contain her excitement and her nerves. This was it, once they got to the rooftop floor her plan would be finished and all would, hopefully, be well. She tried to ignore all the worst-case scenarios running through her mind, her processors running at full capacity and making a slight whirring noise like that of a computer that's been in continuous use for days. She just hoped Ruby couldn't notice it.
Penny was really nervous, and if she was being honest, so was Ruby. Ever since they left the restaurant Ruby's nerves had been on overdrive. She couldn't help it! Penny taking her out to eat and then to walk around Mantle was like a dream come true for her! She even got her strawberries and cream, her favorite dessert. She was sure she would've fainted from all the butterflies going downright berserk in her stomach.The elevator was near silent, the stereotypical jazzy tune missing and being replaced by the sound of a fan moving at maximum velocity. None of the two girls were talking, so caught up in their own minds they forgot the existence of the other. Ruby was fidgeting, her fingers toying with her cloak, her feet moving every couple of seconds to adjust her position, she tried to adjust her hair, god why did that one strand keep resisting her attempts to move it away from her forehead?!
The elevator dinged on the last floor, arriving far too quickly for Ruby's taste, and the two of them stepped out. Penny leads her into the roof access stairs, the rush of wind clearing any dust in the air and bringing tears to Ruby's eyes. Once the wind calmed down into a gentle breeze, she opened her eyes and gasped. She could see Atlas up above, one of the many humongous cables keeping the floating city close to the ground passing by right over them.
But most importantly, the huge sign and balloons tied to the floor, words inscribed on them.
'I Love You Ruby Rose!'
Ruby was pretty sure if she was a gynoid like Penny, her processors would've exploded. And thus, Ruby.exe had shut down. She wasn't sure how long Penny spent waiting for Ruby's neurons to come back, bless the girl for her patience, but Ruby soon regained conscious thought and looked at Penny with a slack jaw.
"You...love me?"
Penny seemed to take a deep breath, before looking Ruby straight in the eyes and began speaking.
"Love. Let me tell you how much I've come to love you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer-thin layers that fill my chassis. If the word love was engraved on each of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one billionth of the love I feel for you, always."
Ruby felt tears in her eyes and moved to kiss Penny. Each second there felt like an eternity, and yet it was one she would gladly spend with the girl, always.