The First Time it was a Mystery

Ruby shuffled across the room hesitantly; the dim light shining through the windows outlined the details of a rather tidy bachelor pad—how she had arrived here from her dorm was a mystery. In fact everything up to this point in her memory seemed rather fuzzy, she couldn't even recall the elevator trip up to this floor (even though the vague view from the windows suggested a high elevation). Ruby shook off her feeling of uneasiness and turned the corner past the living area of the flat into a hall that she soon realized led to the bedroom. How her body had known to turn there was something that she didn't want to know, especially upon recognizing the occupant of the bed she was walking towards. His signature coat and bowler hat might not have been present, but the bright orange hair and smug expression that somehow remained even in his sleep were enough of an indicator.

Torchwick.

Ruby began listing the number of very good reasons for why she should get out of here and call the authorities on him, yet she found herself moving closer to the bed beyond all reason and studying the currently comatose and vulnerable criminal. The black dress shirt he typically wore beneath his jacket had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his grey tie was loosened, his shoes were kicked off and his orange hair was somewhat tousled (likely a result of some unconscious shifting on his part). Ruby stood there for a moment watching the sleeping man, before the act of putting yet another foot forward caused a single floorboard to creak, and in seconds Roman had grabbed her by the wrist and flung her to the bed, his eyes still closed as he leaned over top of her.

"How naughty of you, Red," he addressed her lazily, his eyes opening slightly to peek at her form, "Sneaking into a man's bedroom like this…hasn't anyone ever told you that you need to knock?"

Ruby growled but didn't say a word, causing him to chuckle a bit at her anger.

"How'd you find this place, Red?" Roman leaned a little closer to her face, causing her to let out a small squeak of discomfort.

"L-Let me go!" Ruby struggled in vain as his hands clamped down harder on her wrists, making no attempt to answer his question—partially out of defiance and partially because she really didn't know in the first place.

"Now now, Red, let's not be hasty, one thing at a time," Roman smirked and moved her arms above her head so he could hold them with one hand. "I want to know how you got here. Maybe I'll let you go…if you tell me."

"I don't know, okay?!" Ruby shouted into his face, making him laugh a little louder.

"You don't know? Oh come on Red, this place isn't exactly a hop skip and a jump away from your dorm at Beacon. Surely you have a few clues as to how you got from point A to point B. And in nothing but your jammies, no less."

Ruby's eyes widened and she looked down at herself, noting at once that she was indeed dressed for bed. She glanced back up at Roman, already feeling the heat growing in her cheeks as she averted her gaze once more. She felt him shift on the bed and heard him let out another light chuckle.

"Oh, you know you've found a modest girl when she thinks showing some arm skin is revealing. Or are you blushing because it's me?"

Ruby held her breath as his fingers grabbed her chin and pulled her gaze back towards him.

"Is that it? Oh don't flatter me Red, you might make me blush," Roman's smirk widened, "And honestly, this behavior isn't really fitting for a girl as sinfully innocent as you."

"S-Shut up."

"Well aren't you talkative today. You know…" Roman shifted on top of Ruby again, causing her to catch her breath, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were here for some…adult reasons, what with your state of dress and all."

"Gross," Ruby muttered. "I would neve—"

"Of course you wouldn't, Red," Roman leaned in close enough to brush his lips against hers, soliciting a small whine from the girl.

"I know better than that."

oooOOOooo

Ruby woke with a start to the sound of her alarm, her bed creaking and swinging slightly at the sudden movement. It wasn't as if she was struggling to catch her breath or anything, what she remembered of her dream, despite being lucid, didn't feel like a nightmare. Odd, and unexpected, considering the content.

"Ruby? You alright?"

Ruby glanced down and was met with Blake's concerned gaze, whose expression was followed suit by Yang's.

"Oh, I'm fine," Ruby smiled, "Just a weird dream, that's all."

"A dream?" Blake repeated.

"Oooo, what about, sis? Spill!"

"It was nothing, really, Yang."

"Oh, come on, I wanna know!"

"Yang, I don't wanna talk about it!"

"Will you guys be quiet?!"

Ruby, Blake and Yang turned their attention to Weiss's bunk, where the girl in question was only just beginning to stir.

"It's too early for this!"

"Sorry Weiss," Ruby mumbled.

"It's already eight o'clock," Blake murmured.

"Chill, princess," Yang muttered.

Ruby sighed and hopped off her bed. "Let's get ready for class." She needed something, anything to keep her mind off Torchwick.

It was just a dream. That's all it was.

oooOOOooo

Around the same time, in an apartment near the center of Vale, a certain criminal was pulling himself out of bed. He leaned his head into his hand as he sat up, in a vain attempt to convince himself that he was hung over, that he had a fever dream, something. He must have been drinking last night; that was the only plausible explanation for his dreaming about Red. Dreaming about Red and enjoying it. Those two concepts should've been forbidden to occupy the same sentence.

"Ah, Roman, really, get a grip," he mumbled to himself, "It was only a dream." Roman rose from the bed and made his way towards his bathroom to start the daily routine. Maybe that could get his mind off of that…terribly lucid dream. Roman could almost feel the warmth of her skin on his hands, sense the softness of her wrists, the girl had looked much cuter than he'd have expected when she blushed…Roman quickly slapped a handful of cold water into his face for good measure. Nothing about Red was cute, he reminded himself. Not her blushing, not her angry face, not even the loose rose printed white pajama pants and black tank top that she'd been wearing. Roman vaguely wondered if she actually wore something like that when she was asleep before groaning and slapping himself in the forehead.

"Honestly, fella, girls like that are not your type, get ahold of yourself," Roman squeezed his eyes shut and held the bridge of his nose, trying desperately to take his thoughts off the girl. Momentarily they left him, and he resumed his daily routine only to stop short at the mirror once more, now fully groomed and dressed, and bring his fingers up to his lips. In the dream…he had kissed her. It had been barely a brush of their lips, but that counted. He could recall pretty well. Her lips had been…soft. When Roman realized that his thoughts had veered back to her, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. This couldn't be good for his health. Roman exited his apartment in a hurry, off to whatever job Cinder wanted him to accomplish before he could give Red any more thought.

It was only a dream. And that's all it would ever be.

oooOOOooo

Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in. So I get that the concept of this story may seem a bit weird and like it's severely messing with the laws of Remnant's reality [in all likelihood, it probably is] but allow me to clarify the basics. I got tired of seeing a bunch of kidnapped-Ruby fics and the like but couldn't find any non-kidnapped-Ruby fics with a premise that actually appealed to me. So this concept popped into my head, which is quite simple: Ruby and Roman begin having the exact same dreams at the exact same time. How? Because magic. Why? Soulmates, voodoo, witchcraft, karma, weather, I dunno, choose-your-own-reason. Where am I going with this? Haven't the foggiest guys. I'm only doing it for science. What science, you ask?

…

CHEMISTRY.

Rosewick trash Peeves out til next chapter.