"Ok, seriously, does anyone know where Pyrrha is? I feel like she hasn't been at lunch the entire week..."

It was the first week of October and Yang was getting worried and, if she was being honest, a little annoyed with Pyrrha. Outside of the two classes they shared together she hadn't seen the redhead once.

Nora piped up, "I think she's been helping Jaune with Maths."

"Is he that bad at it?" Ruby asked.

"Well he's in the same Maths class as me and Cardick. So yeah, he's pretty bad at it."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, Who the hell is Cardick?

"Cardin." Ren answered the unspoken question with his usual deadpan.

The bell rang and everyone headed to their classes, whilst Yang headed to the field for her free. She took her flannel off and rolled it up into a makeshift pillow and lay back on the grass, setting an alarm before she put her phone in her bra and closed her eyes to relax, letting her thoughts wander.

All too soon the alarm went off, disrupting her daydreams and she got up, stretching her arms and back out. She headed to the final class of her day, Physics. Later that evening, Yang messaged Pyrrha:

Yang:

Hey Pyrrha

Pyrrha:

Hello Yang. How are you?

Yang:

Im good thanks u?

U free tomorrow?

Pyrrha:

I am good as well. Aside from my daily exercise I should be, yes. Would you like to meet up?

Yang:

Yeah, meet me after my shift at 2?

Pyrrha:

Certainly, I'll see you then.

Yang:

Cool, night

Pyrrha:

Goodnight Yang.

The next day Yang woke up at 5 in the morning as usual for a Saturday, stretching and heading downstairs to do herself a quick coffee. Rolling her shoulders, she leaned against the kitchen counter slowly sipping the coffee. As she steadily grew closer to what could be considered 'awake', she finished the coffee off before pouring a second one, drinking it much quicker. Yang grabbed her bag filled with her uniform, climbed into Tai's truck, and headed to the coffee shop where she worked.

Her shift dragged a little, until the mid-morning rush, and by the time it finished at 2, she hadn't realised so much time had gone by.

"Hello!" Yang looked up to see the red headed athlete walk in, dressed in more casual clothes of a loose sweater and jeans. Smiling and waving at her, Yang finished the last order, made a couple of extra drinks, clocked out, grabbed the two cups of still hot drinks, and slid into the booth opposite Pyrrha.

Passing one over to her best friend, Yang greeted her, and they spent a little bit of time exchanging small talk. This didn't last long however, as Yang decided to get to the bottom of her recent disappearances. "I believe you have something to tell me."

"I do?" What Yang hadn't been expecting was for Pyrrha to attempt to deny all knowledge.

"Yes, you do. Apparently," Yang over exaggerated the word, "You have been ditching your best friend to tutor someone else! The very nerve! Surely there must be a very good reason for it..." She was grinning as she said it, not truly meaning it. What she wasn't expecting was for Pyrrha's face to turn a very slight pink. "Wait. Wait. Waaaaait a minute." Pyrrha immediately looked down into her drink and brought it up towards her face to try and hide the fact that her cheeks were getting steadily pinker. "No." Yang couldn't believe it. "Are my eyes deceiving me here? Pyrrha Nikos. The Pyrrha Nikos...has a crush?" Yang's voice got higher and any lingering annoyance from being ditched vanished in a heartbeat.

"N-no. Of course I don't have a crush. That's ridic..." Pyrrha began before Yang cut her off.

"Pyrrha Minerva Nikos you have the worst poker face ever, so don't even try to lie to me."

Yang stared at Pyrrha with her eyebrows raised until the redhead lowered her cup slightly and said in a small voice, "Maybe." Yang's grin was close to splitting her face in two, and she started to jump up to shout in happiness until Pyrrha grabbed her arm and stopped her, forcing her back into her seat. "Shhhh!"

"Ok you have got to give me all the details. You've not had a crush on anyone the entire time I've known you, so you need to explain to me how in the hell you have a crush on Jaune Arc." Yang was giddy with excitement.

"You have to keep it a secret!" Pyrrha was insistent on that, and glared at Yang until she nodded, crossed her heart, and mimed locking her mouth and throwing away an imaginary key. "It's wonderful." Now Yang had agreed, Pyrrha allowed herself to grin and it was nearly as big as Yang's.

"Spill. Don't leave anything out." Yang leaned forward, she'd never seen her best friend like this before, and it was fantastic to see. So Pyrrha did as Yang asked and spilled the details. She'd liked him since the first day when he asked who she was, which got Yang spluttering a little, as she'd just taken a drink and that was not what she'd expected. Apparently whilst he'd heard of Pyrrha before, he didn't put two and two together and realise it was her until somebody pointed it out in passing. Whilst he was apologetic when he found out, he didn't let it change the way he acted around her.

"Jaune treats me like a normal person, not a great athlete to be put on a pedestal and admired from afar. He cares about what I want, what I like, not what other people think I would." Yang watched as Pyrrha's face was a light pink and there was a faraway look in her eye. The colouring went a lot darker at her next words however, "Plus, I...I find him...quite attractive. He's soft, and nice, and tall, his eyes are a gorgeous blue, and he's quite a bit stronger than you'd think..." Yang smiled softly as Pyrrha kept describing him. She's got it bad. Real bad.

"So, wedding bells will be ringing in the near future then Mrs Arc?" Yang couldn't resist a little bit of teasing and Pyrrha swatted her arm in response.

"No! He doesn't see me like that. I'm a friend, and someone to help him, that's all." Yang could detect a bit of wistfulness there.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, he's got his eyes set on Weiss Schnee, but that's okay! Really it is! I'm happy just to spend time with him." Pyrrha tried her hardest to force happiness into her voice, but Yang knew her too well and had known her for too long to be fooled.

She reached out and brushed Pyrrha's knuckles with her thumb. "Well seeing as the Ice Queen has turned down everyone who's even tried to ask her out for lunch, never mind a date, I don't expect him to get anywhere fast with her." She smirked at her best friend and even Pyrrha had to agree with that, "He already sees you as just plain Pyrrha, which is what you've wanted for so long. But if he doesn't also see you as the amazing, incredible, girlfriend worthy person that you are too, then he's an idiot.

Pyrrha smiled at Yang and gripped her friend's hands in return. "Thank you, Yang." She then changed the smile to a smirk, "How about you then? Has anyone caught your eye?"

Yang coughed and looked away, knowing her poker face was about as good as Pyrrha's. "Nope. No one at all."

Pyrrha just waited. She knew that if she waited and stared long enough then Yang would crack. Seeing Yang's eyes flick back to her unwavering gaze before darting away again, Pyrrha knew she wouldn't have to wait for long. Finally, after another couple of minutes, and several more quick glances, Yang gave in. "Aargh, fine. Yes."

Pyrrha said nothing, it was much more effective with Yang to just let her say everything, which she proceeded to do.

"She's gorgeous. I mean, she is just breath-taking. She's got this beautiful black hair, and these amazing amber eyes, I swear I could drown in them, I noticed as soon as she walked into our class, but didn't want to make too much of it, or stare too much, and she wears this adorable black bow all the time! She even wears it in PE. PE. Oh my god is she a sight to see in PE. She wears these shorts that aren't skin-tight, but might as well be, and she wears a normal sports top, but it hugs her body in all the right places, and then there's those shorts. Oh, I could talk for days about her in those shorts. We did the triple jump on Monday and her ass in those shorts when she ran was godly to watch, especially when she jumped."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, and Yang continued, "Ok fine, it's not just about how she looks, cos she's so smart! I understand why people say smart is sexy because it really is with her. She's in my French class, and it is just heaven listening to her speak. Literal heaven. She's in my English, History, Biology, and Physics classes too, and she's so good! Like, top of the class good. Plus, she's so mysterious! She doesn't talk much, always has a book out, is a bit aloof, but not in the way that she thinks she's too good for everyone else, just that she doesn't want to really be around people she's not comfortable with. I think that's right, cos she's got a small circle of friends and she sticks with them a lot."

Pyrrha smiled, not missing the irony of the reversed roles. "So why don't you talk to her? You always make everyone feel comfortable around you, it's who you are. You can't just watch from afar forever."

"I can't just go up and talk to her Pyrrha! She's so beautiful and clever, I'd be tongue tied and wouldn't know what to say! I'm nervous just thinking about it!" Yang put her head in her hands.

Pyrrha stared at her. "Tongue tied? The great Yang Xiao Long, punmaster extraordinaire, and champion boxer, would be tongue tied?" She chuckled a little.

"Pyrrha, we both know I'm a hot gay mess, don't pretend it would end well."

"You shouldn't doubt yourself that much. You would do wonderfully."

Yang looked up, "I don't know how or why you have such faith in me, but thanks. We both know I'll fuck it up."

Pyrrha laughed, "Probably, but at least make sure you do it when I can see."

—

"Now then," Dr Ignis' voice, a little croaky from his latest experiment, called out "Part of the curriculum that I have to adhere to, despite the quite frankly mundane aspect of it, is to assign two research projects per year." Ruby felt her heart stop. She knew where this was going. If it's paired then please let us pick our partners, please let us pick our partners. "I have uploaded a selection of the accepted topics onto the study site. You should all be familiar with the site if you take either Barty's History or Peter's Economics and Business classes." A small smirk crossed his face at the thought of his colleagues' lessons, "You will be working in pairs, and yes it will be your lab partners."

Ruby knew it. And from the quiet groan that came from beside her, Weiss felt the same way as Ruby. She looked out the corner of her eye and saw Weiss' face scrunched up slightly in a grimace with her eyes closed. Ruby felt her heartbeat quicker, and not in a 'Oh my God I've got a crush' kind of way either. She tried to breathe slowly and deeply, whilst focusing on what Dr Ignis was saying, which took a lot of concentration.

"You have four weeks to research and write the paper. I expect there to be clearly defined sections done by each participant, and the grade will be both individual and paired. So, if your partner does not pull their weight, then it will not completely screw you. Only partially. Get started!" Dr Ignis clapped his hands together and then made shooing motions, before sitting at his desk.

Weiss looked at Ruby and grabbed her bag off the floor. "We both have frees next, so you're coming to the library with me. Now." She stood up and headed for the door, Ruby gaping after her before she picked her bag up and scurried after her. The click of Weiss' heels was louder than the soft clump of Ruby's boots, especially as she took slightly longer strides than Ruby, who had to walk quickly to keep up.

Weiss didn't stop walking until they reached the library, when she headed for the computer banks and sat at one, indicating Ruby should take the computer next to her. They hadn't spoken a word the entire time they'd walked, with Ruby being a bit intimidated and anxious to talk, not wanting to say the wrong thing and piss Weiss off even more than she already seemed, but now they reached the computers Ruby felt that she had to say something. "So...umm...how do you think we should split this?"

"Why don't we see what we're being graded on, and then I'll decide how much you're allowed to work on, okay?" The smile that followed was lacking in any form of warmth and was so fake it annoyed Ruby immediately. Weiss logged into the computer and brought the grading criteria up. Scanning through it quickly, she breathed out very heavily in clear annoyance. "You will be doing exactly half of it. And you will not mess it up. Do you understand?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes, "Sure thing Princess. Feel free to go through my work at the end of this to make sure it's up to your exacting standards."

They stared daggers at each other for a minute, before Ruby sighed. "We're not doing this whole 'Not hate each other' thing well right now, are we?"

Weiss looked down, "No. We're not..." She sighed, "I just need to get the best possible grade, and I do not want this going wrong. And if your writing skills are as good as your handwriting, then there's a lot that can go wrong."

"Hey, my handwriting is perfectly legible!" Ruby protested, but when Weiss glared at her, she muttered "To some people...and my writing skills are better."

"Good. Let's pick a topic we can write about, and then start planning." And they did. The pair decided to do it on 'Chemical Hydrolysis with Acidic Salts', Ruby pointing out that when she'd had to go to the chemistry cupboard for Dr Ignis a couple of lessons ago, she remembered having to move several acidic salts off a shelf to get to something else, so there would be plenty of material to work with in class.

They spent the remainder of the free period sat at one of the tables making tentative plans of what to do and write, before hearing the bell go for lunch.

Ruby looked up and then at Weiss, "Erm...I need to get some lunch. I'm guessing you brought your own lunch again?"

Weiss blinked, a little surprised that Ruby had remembered that fact from the previous month. "Yes...I did. Look, we need to keep working on this, I assume you have a computer at home?" Ruby nodded and Weiss continued, "Do some research into the topic tonight then." She ripped a piece of paper out a notebook and scribbled something down on it before handing it to Ruby. "Come to my house either tomorrow or Sunday. Don't come before 1pm on either day. Press the buzzer at the gates and say you're here to work on a school project with me. When the gates open, go to the door on the right. We'll continue the work then."

Ruby looked down at the piece of paper and saw an address written in flowing, cursive handwriting. "Erm...okay. See you later then." Weiss simply nodded and turned back to the table and her notebook.

Ruby headed off to the usual place in the cafeteria, and whilst she chatted with the others, Pyrrha and Jaune having also returned to the group, Ruby wasn't as involved as normal. The last period was on her mind, once they'd agreed to try not to hate each other again, her and Weiss had been...civil? Whilst Weiss wasn't exactly been friendly or even particularly nice, she hadn't been mean either. Maybe she's not as bad as she seems? I mean she did invite me round tomorrow. Fortunately, Nora was distracting everyone by...well, by being herself, so nobody noticed Ruby was being a little quieter than usual.

Maths was no different than usual, Weiss still ignored her completely. Ruby didn't expect anything to have really changed just yet, they had only had one slightly productive period together after all. Walking back on her own as Yang had gone to boxing practice, Ruby wondered whether, along with the research for the project, she should maybe try and get to know Weiss a bit better. I mean, she's probably quite nice under all that meanness...plus she's in like half my classes so if we could be friends then it would be really good! That's it then, I'll do a bunch of research and wow her socks off tomorrow! Yang did say being 'good' was good so...

The next day, after a quizzical look from her Dad when Ruby announced she was going out, a few A4 pages of notes in her bag along with a memory stick of the research she'd done, Ruby headed over to Weiss' house. She'd planned to leave first thing in the morning but remembered at the last minute Weiss had said not to go before 1pm, and it wouldn't help her quest to be friends with Weiss if she messed up straight away.

Again.

It took Ruby a good half an hour to walk to Weiss' house, following the maps app on her phone. The route took Ruby from the small neighbourhood she lived in, through another two areas of houses that were getting steadily larger, through to what was jokingly (except it wasn't a joke) called 'Millionaire's Road'. What it actually was, was two roads with about six houses on each side, all gated, and all looking highly expensive. Each house was easily three times the size of Ruby's, with more floors to each house than her own. Even more floors if there were basements. Ruby stopped outside the third house along, roughly in the middle of the road.

Looking up she felt suitably intimidated. She'd recognised Weiss' surname, there probably wasn't anyone on the planet who didn't, the Schnee Energy Company owned multiple coal mines, but also various other energy suppliers. Ruby had thought Weiss was maybe a cousin or distant relative, or just someone who shared the same surname as a coincidence. Standing at the silver gates, decorated with various snowflakes and other Wintery designs, she could tell that Weiss' last name matching the Schnee Energy Company was not a coincidence.

Oh Gods I am so underdressed right now! Ruby had dressed like normal, with her usual red hoody and jeans, but seeing the mansion she figured it would have been better to turn up in a dress or something like that. Ruby stopped in front of the buzzer and breathed slowly a few times, determined not to start panicking. She realised she must have been standing outside for about ten minutes getting her breathing under control, and quickly pressed the buzzer before she chickened out.

There was a loud buzzer noise, then almost immediately followed by a quick crackle before a voice answered, "May I help you?"

"Oh! Um hi! I'm here to see Weiss Schnee? I'm doing a school project with her?" Ruby was feeling quite awkward and it showed in her voice.

There was a moment of silence before the voice answered again, "Very well. Please come up." There was a loud buzzer again, but a different tone, and then the gates opened silently. Ruby had almost expected them to creak as they opened, like in horror movies, but she figured that real rich people wouldn't want anything creaking, especially their front gates.

What did Weiss say? Was it the door on the left or the door on the right? Why are there so many doors! Ruby wracked her brain trying to remember as she stood in front of three separate doors, one grand entrance to what looked like the main building, double oak doors surrounded by marble, then there was a smaller, much plainer door to the left, simple painted wood, painted white as if to blend into the outside design. The door on the right was somewhere between the two, it was part of a secondary building that was still attached to the main one.

Ruby ran through it in her head, if Weiss was that rich, then maybe the door on the left was the servant's door like in those weird dramas where people wore stuffy clothes? Which means it would be the door on the right!

Feeling pleased with herself for figuring it out, she walked up to the door and knocked. As soon as the knocks rang out, she stepped back quickly, putting her hands by her side. Then in her hoody pockets, before deciding on in front of her, and then finally, by the time the door was opened, by her side again.

The man that opened the door was quite tall and thin, with slightly balding grey hair. He wore an impeccable suit, with a waistcoat underneath, what looked to be a pocket watch chain running out of a pocket - something Ruby thought was only used over a hundred years ago or something daft like that - and a pair of thin half-moon glasses with grey piercing eyes looking down at her over the top of them. He was standing very straight, easily a foot taller than Ruby, peering down at her with slightly narrowed eyes. His voice was quite deep when he spoke, and it was laced with contempt, "Can I help you?" The voice was distinctly different from the voice from the buzzer.

The entire outfit and stance would have been highly intimidating, if it wasn't for the bright pink rubber gloves reaching his elbows and a very large, and very pink, feather duster in one hand.

Ruby struggled not to laugh at the massive disconnect between the scary person before her and the very pink accessories that completely ruined his image. She composed herself and repeated what she'd said at the gate, "I'm here to work on a school project with Weiss Schnee?"

One of the man's eyebrows rose considerably before he said, "Please follow me." Turning on his heel he strode into the hallway, Ruby hurrying after him, the door closing behind her automatically. Scurrying to keep up, Ruby could faintly hear classical music coming from further down the hall. The man, well Ruby supposed he was a butler or something, was walking too fast for her to do anything really other than keep up with him, so she didn't get a chance to look around properly as he led her through the first hall, up a staircase, and then down another hallway before stopping in front of a door that was pure white, the classical music seemed to be coming from inside as it was much louder now.

"Your name?"

"Huh? Oh! Ruby. Ruby Rose." Ruby was thrown by the sudden question, as he hadn't said a word before they'd stopped.

He rapped his knuckles on the door four times before opening it, "Miss Rose for a school project Miss Schnee."

The music stopped as the door opened and Ruby walked in past him holding the strap on her messenger bag with both hands and stood awkwardly just inside the doorway, peering around at the room. It was white and light blue, everywhere. The walls were painted white, the bed frame was white and the bedsheets light blue, the carpet was a light blue, and even the furniture was white. The shades varied slightly, but she could look at them all and say it was white or light blue. Sitting in a normal black desk chair, which contrasted massively against the white desk, was Weiss.

"Thank you, Geoffrey, if you could just bring a spare chair please, I'll let you get back to your cleaning." Her voice was almost the same as it was at school when she answered a question but had a more authoritative tone to it. He nodded and left the room immediately, pulling the door shut behind him. Ruby jumped slightly at the clack as the door closed, giving it a quick glance before looking back at Weiss.

She was sat with one leg bent over the other, her wrists resting on her knee. "Err...hi." Ruby tried to smile and waved awkwardly. Weiss rolled her eyes and motioned to the space next to her. Ruby walked over, and by the time she'd reached it the door was opening again and Geoffrey - Weird name, but maybe not for a butler? - was bringing in a second desk chair. Where he'd got it from or how he'd got it so fast was beyond Ruby, but it was there. He placed it next to Weiss' desk, bowed slightly, then left the room again. Ruby slipped into the chair, placing her messenger bag between her feet, which only just reached the floor.

There was silence for a few moments before Weiss spoke up, "Did you do any research?"

"Yeah, I did quite a bit." Ruby reached down and pulled the memory stick out of her bag and passed it over to Weiss who plugged it into the computer and loaded it up. Ruby looked at Weiss and could see that she was a little surprised at the amount of work that she'd already done, and Ruby couldn't help a little smug smirk slip onto her face.

They worked together for the next couple of hours, and Ruby could tell that Weiss was softening ever so slightly. It wasn't much, but it was something, so the next chance she got, she decided to try and go for it and make a new friend. Half an hour later they'd reached the furthest point they could go without actually doing the experiments, which would have to wait until their next Chemistry lesson, and Ruby saw her chance. "Hey Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"We should get to know each other better!" Ruby tried to put on her biggest smile.

Weiss looked confused, "Why?"

"Well..." Ruby hadn't expected that. She racked her brains trying to come up with an excuse that Weiss would go with, "...because I want to know more about you?"

She could have slapped herself. Weiss' eyes narrowed and Ruby desperately tried to think quickly, "Well we're going to be sat next to each other and most teachers will probably end up pairing us up for various projects so if we know more about each other it'll help with working on the projects and get better grades..." It was a terrible excuse and she knew it but went for it with everything she had, including her patented 'Ruby's Impossible To Turn Down Puppy Dog Eyes', which had never failed her yet with her family, and hopefully wouldn't here.

She stuck her bottom lip out ever so slightly and trembled it, her silver eyes wide open, staring straight into Weiss' blue eyes, her whole face screaming 'Pretty please do what I want'. Weiss stared at her for a few seconds before turning away and muttering, ever so quietly, "Fine." Yes! Ok, now to actually learn more about her project partner.

"How about questions and answers? Except you have to say a minimum of five words for each answer, so you can't get away with just yes or no."

Weiss raised an eyebrow and turned back around to face Ruby, "Ok then, if we absolutely have to." She sounded a little exasperated, but willing to tolerate it, "You have to answer honestly, and we take it in turns to ask questions."

"Deal!" Ruby was happy that Weiss was just going to play along.

"Your idea, you go first."

"Right, ok then...erm..." Ruby's brain was blank for a few moments before she remembered the classical music that had been playing before she reached the room, "What's your favourite kind of music?"

Weiss considered for a moment before answering "Probably classical music, it helps me focus and do my work."

"Ok, but what's your favourite to listen to, if you had to sit back and just listen to one type of music, what would it be?"

"That's a second question, and it's not your turn." Weiss smirked and Ruby gasped and crossed her arms, pulling a pouty face. "My turn, do you prefer tea or coffee?"

"Coffee." Ruby answered before Weiss stayed silent and waited before Ruby remembered that it had to be five words or more. She rolled her eyes; first question and she was already getting caught out by her own rules. "With cream and five sugars." Weiss blinked twice and looked at Ruby like she had two heads. "What? I like it sweet..." Ruby rubbed the back of her neck feeling a little awkward. "If you only had one sense what would it be?" That was a good one she thought, interesting and thought provoking.

Weiss thought for a moment looking at the ceiling, "I'd have to say sight. Sign language makes up for being deaf and mute, and touch can be overrated. Eyes are always useful."

"Ooh that's a good answer! I'd say taste just because if I could never taste chocolate chip cookies again, I think I'd die." Ruby shivered at the very thought. "Now then...what..."

"Hey! It's my turn to ask!" Weiss cut her off.

"But I just answered!" Ruby looked confused.

"I never asked a question; you chose to answer all on your own." Weiss smirked again, and Ruby got the distinct feel that Weiss was getting the better of her quite a bit. It's not that bad. She at least seems to be enjoying herself. She pulled a face and looked at Weiss, who took it as permission to keep talking, "If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?"

"Fun answer or boring?" Ruby grinned.

"Both?" Weiss' voice had a questioning tone, as if checking it was alright.

"Eh, I'll allow it." Ruby shrugged. "Boring answer is I'd invest it. I'm almost fifteen, I don't need a million dollars right now." Weiss nodded; Ruby clearly had some maturity in her. "Fun answer is I'd spend it allllllll on chocolate chip cookies." Weiss slapped a hand to her forehead, causing Ruby to laugh out loud.

"You dolt, that would destroy your teeth!" Weiss snapped, causing Ruby to laugh even more.

"Totally worth it." She grinned, making Weiss shake her head. "What is one thing that instantly makes your day better, no matter what?"

"Coffee. Specifically, a double espresso Romano." Seeing Ruby's confused look, she explained, "It's a double shot of espresso, a small amount of cream, with a slice of lemon in it to finish it off."

Weiss tapped her bottom lip as she thought, "Ok, if you could magically become famous, would you choose to or not?"

"Nah, I wouldn't want to be famous. Everyone wanting to know everything that goes on in your life with pretty much no privacy? No thanks" Ruby scoffed at the idea, and Weiss was silent, clearly a little surprised by the brunette's answer.

Ruby thought about her next question, she didn't want to go too deep into Weiss' life right now, but still wanted to know more. Weiss clearly isn't someone with a very sweet tooth. Although...time to find out for sure. "What's your favourite ice cream topping?"

"Erm..." This time Weiss had to think. "I don't have any? When I have ice cream it's usually plain..."

Ruby looked stunned, "Nothing? No sprinkles? No chopped hazelnuts? No marshmallows?" She gasped and whispered, "Not even any sauce?" Weiss shifted her chair back a little at Ruby's intense gaze. Ruby smiled softly and reached over to pat Weiss' hand in a pitying way, "That'll be fixed. That'll be fixed."

Weiss pulled her hand back quickly, looking at Ruby strangely. This conversation was getting ahead of her, and she needed to steer it back. "How come you're ahead at school by two years?" From the look on Ruby's face it wasn't the correct question to ask and was clearly one she felt uncomfortable with.

"Well, I'm really really good at Maths, and that sort of made up for everything else? I was a year ahead anyway and even then I had to agree to make sure that I don't fail a single class to even get a chance at taking the entrance exam, and then...well I guess my Maths pulled me through."

There was an uncomfortable silence that was felt by both of them before Ruby quickly continued talking, "So! Weiss...umm what do you do after school? I saw you with a gym bag the other day and a weird, case, sorta thing?"

"Yes!" Weiss was quick to answer, not wanting to let the awkwardness continue, "I do stuff after school. I'm part of the fencing team."

"Fencing! Oh my god like with actual swords and stuff?" Ruby was now bouncing in her chair with excitement.

"Umm...well sort of? There's different types of fencing swords, there's foil, sabre, and then there's epée, which is my discipline."

"Do you have your own sword?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Weiss sat up proudly.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Ruby's eyes were wide open, and excitement was just shooting from every part of her, "Can I see? Can I? Can I? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeease?" Ruby was leaning forward really far, and Weiss suddenly had the strange thought of her falling off it.

"No. It's at school locked up."

"Awww..." Weiss was starting to think that this girl she'd been partnered with, regardless of how clever she must be to have got into school two years early, was just a human version of a puppy. Highly excitable, giant silver eyes, and the way her red and black hair flopped around was just cute. Weiss had a strange urge to ruffle the girl's hair or pet her head.

"Maybe some point this week I can show you?" Seeing Ruby pout with unhappiness had made Weiss want to change that expression, she wasn't sure why, she just felt a need to stop her pouting and looking upset. And the offer worked.

"Yeah! Please, that would be awesome!" Ruby's face split into a massive grin, her eyes sparkling.

Weiss couldn't help but chuckle at how much Ruby's emotions flicked from happy to devastated, then to excited and happy again was incredible. The puppy description she'd just thought of was definitely apt.

There was a light tapping at the door and they both turned to look at it. "Yes?" Weiss voice had lost the little warmth it had gained and was back to the cold and distant tone it had been when Ruby had first arrived.

The door opened and Geoffrey the butler walked in. "It's nearing 4.30 Miss Schnee."

"Oh. Yes, it is. Thank you, Geoffrey, I'll be through in a moment." Weiss face managed to hide the grimace as she realised the time. "Can you show Ruby out please?" She looked at Ruby, "I've got a prior arrangement, but we covered everything we could do without actually doing the experiment itself."

Ruby's face fell slightly, she thought she'd been making some real progress, but she smiled to cover it up. "Yeah! Of course, that's fine." She grabbed her memory stick and the notes and put them back in her bag. "I'll see you on Monday though?" A note of hope was in her voice as she looked at Weiss.

"Of course you will, we're in the same homeroom you dunce." Despite the slightly harsh words, the tone was a bit warmer, and Ruby could tell it was said without malice.

"See ya Monday then Weiss!" Ruby got up and waved as she headed to the door, following Geoffrey out.

Weiss let a small smile cross her face as Ruby left, maybe the girl wasn't actually that bad after all. Hearing a beep from her computer that indicated an incoming call, she straightened herself, smoothed her top and put on a neutral expression before clicking accept.

"Good afternoon Father."

—

True to her word Weiss showed Ruby her fencing sword, a gorgeous white epée that she called 'Myrtenaster'. Ruby gushed over it, revealing a love for swords and other medieval weaponry, "They're just so elegant! Nowadays weapons are all masculine and boring, but swords are just beautiful and graceful. There's a reason future weaponry looks so cool and always has badass swords in!" She nodded her head like she'd made a highly valid point, but Weiss just couldn't see it.

The next couple of Chemistry lessons were taken up with Ruby and Weiss actually doing the experiments and then writing the results up, which took less time than they'd thought. They'd gone to the library during the lessons to finish typing it up and they were both pleasantly surprised with each other.

Weiss was still a little surprised that Ruby was willing to work and could write well, even if she had to rely on Word for multiple grammar and spelling issues. Ruby meanwhile was, maybe not surprised exactly, but was happy that the slight warming up of Weiss continued, even if it was slight. They actually said hello and good morning to each other now, but it never really went any further than that.

They finished the project a couple of days before the end of the month and handed it in, Weiss having admitted she would accept the work that Ruby had done, and that it shouldn't pull her grade down by too much. She'd had a slight smirk on her face when she said it, so Ruby thought she was joking, but wasn't 100% sure.

One thing that Ruby was sure of however, was that the end of the month was going to be awesome. Her birthday fell on Halloween, and whilst she knew it wouldn't be the party it had been when she turned 13, or it would be next year, she still looked forward to it.

And it didn't disappoint.

Tai and Yang threw a small Halloween party for her, Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, and Ren all came round dressed up in some brilliant costumes. Tai going as Frankenstein, Yang as Goldilocks, Pyrrha as Athena, Jaune as an old school knight, complete with a wooden sword and shield, whilst Nora and Ren went as the Blues Brothers, dressed up in suits and sunglasses, and finally the birthday girl went as little Red Riding Hood.

One of the games they played was one Tai had heard about from a 'pen pal' of his, where you hung a ring doughnut from the ceiling with a string, and tried to eat it without using your hands. It was a close competition between Tai (who had clearly practiced beforehand) and Ruby, until Nora went for it. Ruby swore afterwards that she'd unhinged her jaw like a ginger snake or something, because Nora ate the entire doughnut in two bites.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" Nora did a little dance on the spot and Ruby couldn't help but laugh at it, everyone joining in after her. By the time the night was over everybody was pretty tired and after wishing her another happy birthday each, they went home, leaving Ruby to lay down in bed.

"Had a good birthday kiddo?" Tai was leaning on the doorframe, and Ruby sat up to look at him. A wry smile was on his face and she returned it.

"Yeah, it was brilliant. Thanks Dad."

Tai walked over and kissed her on the forehead, "My pleasure kid, glad you enjoyed it. Now get some rest, alright? You've still got school in the morning."

"Uh-huh. Night Dad." Ruby smiled and squirmed under the covers to get comfortable as Tai left the room, giving his daughter one last loving glance, before flicking the light switch off and leaving her in the dark to sleep.

Author's Note:

So, it's been a while, I'm so sorry! I've had to go back to work full time, and that coupled with a really annoying case of writer's block means it's taken me a lot longer than I wanted it to. Thank you to everyone reading, favouriting, following, or leaving a review, it really means a lot that people actually read this thing!

Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this one did!