章 1926: 156
"Ruby?"
"Huh? Oh, Blake! Gosh, it's been a while since we just talked, huh? I mean, classes before, plus your relationship with Yang n' Weiss, me and Penny being so close, all the stuff we did… me being in a coma for a while…" Ruby cleared her throat awkwardly, turning to face her partner fully as she sat down at her new desk- one which had come custom as per her specifications, so she only needed a thin mat of grimm stuff on top to handle her maintenance work.
It turned out that a lot of her old collection had been kept in the old shop, free for her to collect once she'd woken up. That was nice.
"Yeah… it has. Sorry. I know we're partners but it didn't really feel like we ever got to be close when I… y'know," Blake shrugged, wincing a little as she sat down by Ruby and twiddled her thumbs. "Got closer to Yang and Weiss instead of you. Figure I should actually try and hang out with you more often, instead of just as a big group together. Especially now that you're back and… mostly back to normal."
"That's fair… I mean, I guess I was in a coma for a while…" Ruby shrugged, thinking over her time in the rose as she set Crescent Rose down and ran her hands along her weapon's surface. Gosh it was pretty now- all of Penny's Aura wrapped up in and around it, melding with her own… it was like how it always was, but even better. "I'm happy with the time we have together all the same, though. Y'know?"
"Right. Still. So… how've you been? Other than the fact that you somehow got even stronger despite being in a coma. I mean- there's a lot going on right now and I know we're all trying to put on happy faces with each other but…" Blake cleared her throat, trying not to bring the mood down too much. "Y'know."
"I know. Well… um… I mean, I'm just kind of waiting for the tournament, really? The Amity Colosseum's gonna be here any day now for the redo of the Vytal Festival, and I wanna make sure I actually get to enjoy everything this time!" Ruby grinned, momentarily turning away from Blake to fiddle with a piece of Crescent Rose as she sent little strands of grimm material into and through the structure- Penny had done an absolute masterwork on the internals, shoring it up in the places Ruby hadn't had time to, fixing up all the structural defects where she'd used her limited parts supply and knowledge to make sure her grimm matter could hold the thing together in lieu of trying to find workable solutions out of parts she just couldn't afford to buy. Top quality Atlesian engineering, right there- doubly so because it was made with her design sense in mind thanks to Penny's absolutely superior intelligence. "Oh! We could do like, a partner day! Y'know, Yang n' Weiss, you and me and Penny! Wait no, that doesn't work… I mean it kinda does but I don't want you to be away from them too long- do you still get all needy and whiny when you can't use Yang like a heated pillow?"
"Wh- I never did that!" Blake protested, letting her ears fall back at the sudden betrayal to everything she stood for- how dare her own team leader say that she got whiny when she couldn't cuddle close to her flaming heat pad of a girlfriend? Honestly- rude! "That's- that's not a thing! Is it?"
"It is and it was so cute but also you did it a lot," Ruby pointed out ruthlessly, ears twitching as she snickered a little. "Even when Yang just got up to use the bathroom. I know Weiss has a few pictures of you looking like that… er- anyway. We can do a whole team day or whatever! Spend a bunch of time in Vale, see the sights, take advantage of all the festival deals coming around again, figure out what's new and what's not… oh! And then we can hang out on the fairgrounds! They're putting 'em right back where they were supposed to go before the Festival got kinda… interrupted… so we can go get noodles and popcorn and ice cream and candy and a whole bacon wrapped turkey leg! And deep fried everything!"
"... I think I'll pass on most of that, actually. I don't like carnival food. It makes me feel like my heart's going to explode even with the fact that we burn off the calories," Blake made a face, sticking out her tongue in disgust at the thought of eating a grease covered, pizza wrapped, triple bacon cheeseburger with donut buns, all deep fried and served on a stick.
Weiss would go gaga for it, obviously, but… Weiss would also eat a single one, probably throw up half an hour later, and then really, seriously regret her life choices. Or eat like five, and then visit an unkindness upon their dorm's bathroom. Either or. It really depended on how much garbage Weiss decided to eat that day.
"Oh yeah, now I remember. You really liked funnel cake though!"
"... Even I'm not so heartless and cruel as to dislike funnel cake, Ruby," Blake defended, pouting a little as she crossed her arms. "Funnel cake is just a sometimes snack. I'd rather have fish than deep fried batter covered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream."
Ruby blinked. "... You know, I never did ask if the fish thing was a-"
"... No it's just a me thing. Don't ask. I have… a lot of weird hobbies."
"... I've seen the smut you read, I know you have weird hobbies, Blake," Ruby deadpanned.
"Not like that!" Blake blushed and looked away, clearing her throat before fixing Ruby with an annoyed stare whilst crossing her arms. "And I read smut a lot less now. So there."
"... Because of Yang and Weiss or-?"
"... You're not gonna give me a shovel talk after over a year, are you?"
"Wha- no! I'm just saying, I'm not dumb. I know what sex is and that Cinder has a lot of it. And that you three talk about it a lot. I don't really care, honestly?" Ruby shrugged, flapping her hand back and forth a little. "I mean, it's a little weird thinking of Yang doing that kinda thing, but like… people have urges. I feel them all the time. Heck- Beacon's got people having sex every second of every day somewhere on campus while school is in session. It's a bunch of super athletic young adults in close proximity to each other while we're all in the most hormone filled times of our lives. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a bunch of sex happening, honestly."
"... you've been able to feel that this whole time…?"
"Ever since I figured out how to emotion sense without freaking out, yeah," Ruby nodded, pursing her lips a bit as she remembered just how young she'd been when Uncle Qrow gave her the sex talk while they were out on a hunt and she'd felt a lot of those same emotions ringing out from a nearby settlement. "I just never bring it up because people get really weird about it and I like to pretend that people have privacy in our own homes and stuff. Y'know?"
Blake… blinked slowly, then nodded. "... Right. So…?"
"I really don't mind. I'm like… mostly asexual, I think? I mean, I know I've had some urges, but not a lot compared to everyone else my age or here in Beacon," Ruby shrugged, tapping her chin a little as she pursed her lips and vaguely looked to the side. "Demisexual, I think it is. Demisexual, homoromantic, and like, just really, really in love with Penny. I don't care about sex but I'm still okay with it, but if I do it I only want it to be with someone I really, really like, and in this case that's Penny."
"... yeah, that makes sense. Still… I can't believe you've been able to feel that this whole time…" Blake muttered, looking kind of mystified, honestly. "How do you even function?"
"... Blake, before I went into that crystal rose, I was a seething mass of hatred, rage, bloodlust, murderous impulses, and destruction with a human soul papered on top. I thought pushing away everything bad was a good thing and so I'm pretty sure I opened myself up to manipulation way too much in the end. I've just… had a long time to think. And also, before I went into the rose I mostly functioned by focusing entirely on Penny and letting her emotional core drown out everything else," Ruby shrugged, then paused and shrugged again. "And before that, I kinda just didn't talk about it. It wasn't important, y'know?"
"... Right. That's… um. How are you now? After the… rose thing."
"Well… I'm more balanced… I think I'm a little less optimistic about everything, which is… annoying. I liked being super optimistic and cheerful, but it comes back when I'm with Penny so that's okay," Ruby hummed, tapping her chin again and tilting her head to the side. "Oh, I'm a lot more okay with letting myself be actually angry now? Before it was like… just being a little mean. And I've accepted that I'm more than just a human soul holding back a horde of grimm stuff. I'm… something new. Something great. Something… interesting. And I think…"
She smiled, grinning as she looked off into the distance with a suitably dramatic air. "... I think we can beat Salem for good."
Blake cleared her throat awkwardly after a moment. "... That's cool, I guess. Do you uh… wanna go watch a movie?"
"Oh heck yeah! I missed out on so much! Let's go right now- actually wait lemme call Penny first!"
Notes:
Blake is a weird girl and maybe likes acting like an actual cat more than she should. It's the catgirl autism rizz, I guess
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