When she opens her eyes again they're filled with sky blue worry and her heart jumps in her chest. Weiss is leaning over her, she's changed out of the t-shirt and boxers and stands over Ruby in a partially buttoned flannel.

"Ruby," she asks slowly, shifting to stand rather than tower over the taller girl. Ruby's eyes lock onto the milky skin of Weiss' neck and sink lower, between pale breasts, hidden by red and black flannel, to the three buttons hiding Weiss' groin. Ruby's entire body goes rigid, shooting out of bed and away from Weiss.

"Weiss! What are you wearing!?" Weiss sighs, placing a hand upon her waist.

"Honestly, I knew humans were prudent, but this seems excessive Ruby." Her annoyance twinkles in clear blue eyes, and Ruby makes the most effort she's ever put into anything not to look below the collar of her shirt. "As for the clothing, you said I could use anything of yours, is this not sufficient?"

Ruby's mouth goes dry, Weiss in her shirt, buttoned like that? Sufficient? If she wanted Ruby to keep her busy all day then yes, but to leave the house? Not at all. "If we're leaving the house at all… You're going to want something more substantial." She mimics Weiss's usually clinical tone, trying to keep her eyes and hands to herself, but the pull in her chest is aggressive this close to the woman. "And I'm not prudent."

Weiss barks out a laugh, a sound Ruby didn't know the angelic woman could make. "You're all the same." Her voice comes out bitter, "You see a naked body and you shy away, the gods gave you these bodies. They're nothing to be ashamed of." Ruby frowns, something about the way Weiss said 'all the same' pulls roughly at her heart.

"We're not all the same." She mumbles, and Weiss seems to shrink.

"I apologize, Ruby. You are very different from the humans I usually encounter. You are good, possibly the only good human."

Scratching the back of her neck she shrugs, "I don't know about that, Yang and Blake are good, I learned it all from them."

"That remains to be seen." Weiss says flatly, crossing her arms, frown etched across her beautiful face.

It's already the afternoon, so if Ruby wanted to make it to school today she was three classes too late. Fortunately she had a good excuse, as far as Yang was concerned. She checks the previous night's eighteen messages from Jaune, and replies with a single sentence:

Ruby: not coming in today DONT TOUCH THE PROJECT dont even go to class see u next week

They decide not to leave the house, and Ruby manages to convince Weiss to wear a pair of underwear, but she keeps the flannel, three buttons and all. (When Yang makes her first descent down to the basement she pauses in the doorway to gawk, Weiss is laying with her bare legs across Ruby's lap and the redhead looks like she's about to explode.) Ruby mostly does school work, and Weiss watches intrigued, asking questions about the process of school and other facets of Ruby's life.

"Do all humans go to school?"

"For the most part, for how long and what kind of school varies though." She's able to continue her work in spite of the questioning, it's soothing in a way, with Weiss draped over her lap and shoulder. (The idea of angels being clingy never really occurred to her, but Weiss doesn't look lost if Ruby's there, and that is all that really matters.)

"Why did you not go to school today?" Weiss speaks into the crook of her neck, sending a shiver through Ruby.

"Well you're here, and I don't want to leave you alone till you're more comfortable." She adjusts the schematic on her screen, "And yesterday I had a hard time, and I don't really want to deal with that right now." She shrugs, but Weiss leans back to watch Ruby's eyes.

"What happened? Would you like to talk about it?" It's an echo of the statement she said the night before, and she smiles.

"That's okay Weiss, I don't want to bother you with human drama." Weiss sighs bitterly before removing Ruby's laptop from her hands and setting it softly on the coffee table.

"Ruby, I haven't really explained my situation." Ruby nods, opening her mouth to reply, but Weiss places a finger on Ruby's lips to silence her. "I feel the need to explain some of that to you now, so while I know you haven't asked, allow me to explain." Ruby shifts herself fully on the couch as Weiss begins her story.

If you asked any human on the street what the realm of the gods looked like they would likely guess clouds and sunset skies, which is close. The staircase to the gods was a well kept secret; at the peak of Mount Atlas there was a shrine, and beneath that shrine is a double ringed circle. Were a human to stand upon that circle they may feel energized, or maybe they wouldn't, but were it a holy being, angel or god, they would be given access to the land of the gods.

The land of the gods looks much like the mortal realm, for no other purpose than to function. The walls are solid, the floors, there are however no ceilings. The different gods have different areas of the realm, offices if you will, and Weiss 'worked' in the 'inbound' department. That is to say, she was a gatekeeper for the goddess of Justice and the Afterlife.

Pyrrha was not what one would assume the goddess of Justice would look or act like. From the moment Weiss was placed in her charge she never knew what to expect from the constantly smiling woman. She was constantly giving undeserving humans a happy afterlife, one Weiss deemed too good for the disgusting creatures.

The day of her fall, Weiss had been on a roll. Three hundred and fifty two humans to hell, and only six to heaven, and even those were on thin ice. (Pyrrha had come to her a few weeks ago about being more lenient, so she had.) She was about to usher another human through when two red winged angels pressed through the doorway, Pyrrha in tow, sword of judgement in hand.

Smirking, Weiss waves languidly at Pyrrha, who frowns in return. Shifting to stand straight up she's shocked when the red-wings flank her, and Pyrrha stops directly in front of her. Weiss had seen this particular look before, the frown that meant the descent for another angel.

"Pyrrha-?"

"Weiss." Her tone was an echo, vacant and stern. "You have been found in violation of one of our cardinal rules. You have been named a child of wrath, if convicted you will be removed from Atlas." Weiss feels the tone in her bones. It echoes into every fiber of her existence. She feels the red-wings seize her wings, each at a shoulder and she's forced to her knees. Pyrrha's eyes are shadowed, remorse fills them as she continues her statement. "How do you plea?"

There's never been an angel able to talk their way out of this conviction, and the shadows of her human life lurk like a monster beneath her skin. "I have no plea, Judge." Sorrow fills Pyrrha's gaze as she kneels, raising Weiss' face to look her in the eye.

"Weiss, you have been convicted, but you are not lost. Wrath is your sin, learn compassion and you will earn your wings back. "

Numb and broken, Weiss does not respond, the removal of her wings should be painful, but as she descends through the atmosphere, not even the heat surrounding her could warm her cold heart.

Weiss' story ends somber, her hands are shaking and Ruby reaches for them, holding tight.

"You know the remainder of the story. Ruby, were you not the one who found me. I am not sure I would be here either." Her frown sends panic through Ruby, and she wants to wrap around Weiss and keep her safe forever. "That is why, Ruby, I want to hear your troubles. I will help you carry your burdens, as you have helped me with mine."

Ruby sighs, nodding softly. She recounts the story of the day before, the explosion, and everything with Jaune. Weiss listens closely, she doesn't interrupt, and when Ruby finishes she nods. "I'm sorry your day was so bad yesterday. I wish I could have fallen on happier times."

With bubbly giggle Ruby leans back into Weiss, their shoulder touching. "I'm glad you fell when you did, I needed you, as much as you needed me."

It's two weeks later, and the autumn winds ruffle Ruby's hair as she makes her way to the main courtyard. Two weeks since Weiss fell from the land of the gods, and landed in Ruby's back yard. It's unbelievable how much can change in the span of two weeks. She'd finished her engineering project, and though Jaune hadn't made it easy, she had buckled down and got them both an A. (He even showed up to her home, much to Weiss' chagrin, and tried to ask Ruby out on a date! Weiss had been furious, giving the blonde boy an ear full.) Weiss now wore actual clothes, when out of the house, but demanded modesty was overrated, and undeserved.

The silver haired woman was starting to warm up to Blake and Yang as well, much more the former than the latter. Since she stayed with Ruby, (more often than not in the same bed,) she took quickly to cleaning, and organization, which pleased Blake to no end. As for Yang, Weiss managed to keep her clinical outlook to assist with cooking in the evenings, (and if Ruby was lucky the mornings too.)

This morning Weiss woke up with Ruby, made some eggs and bacon for the tired college student, and rushed her out the door right as she needed to leave.

"I'll bring your lunch by the college, just get going before you're late."

So Ruby rushed off to school, and it was now lunch. She had realized belatedly that there wouldn't be a way her or Weiss would be able to communicate, so she quickly rushed to the front courtyard to meet the silver haired woman. She's struck suddenly, by the soft scent of sugar and cinnamon and her world spins. Frantically she searches for Weiss, anything to distract her, but a swirl of leave draw her eyes to a woman holding a box filled with snicker doodle cookies. In a flash the tall blonde woman is three inches shorter, wearing a flowing white coat with silver eyes to match Ruby's.

She feels warmth on her shoulder, and her name, low in her ear, "Ruby…" and she chokes out a gasping sob, before crumbling to the sidewalk. Her vision blurs with tears, and she feels like with every breath she takes she's getting less oxygen. She can hear a distant call for her name, but opening her eyes just brings more visions of the past, of white coats and gentle smiles and of sugar and cinnamon. She thinks she says something, a low mumble in her throat that she registers but can't hear over the pounding of her heart in her ears.

She feels something on her hands, around her ears, (when did they get there?) There's a light tug before she hears a soft coo, something that sends another flood of memories swirling through her head and chest. Suddenly she's being moved, lifted in the air, she kicks weakly, arms still firmly wrapped around her head. Another soft melody penetrates the fog of silver eyes and dark hair, a melody that is new but familiar. She opens her eyes, still gasping soft breaths, to see leaves, bathed in shadows. Further up she sees Weiss, she has Ruby laid with her head in the pale woman's lap.

Slowly her breathing settles, eyes transfixed on silvery white hair billowing in the cool fall breeze. All she can smell is cool mint, with Weiss scratching lightly against her scalp, grounding the frightened redhead. Closing her eyes, Ruby focuses on the song Weiss is singing, it's soft and sorrowful, but it calms the storm in her chest, allowing her to breath easy again.

The song ends, and Weiss opens her eyes to peer down at Ruby, sky blue on a clear day chases the remaining ghosts away. A familiar trance falls over them, as if the world around them falls away, and Ruby only sees the blue of Weiss' eyes, and only hears the lull of her voice.

Worry courses through clear blue, and Ruby reaches for a freckled hand, pressing a single kiss to the palm. "Ruby," She loves the sound of her name as it trickles from pale lips, "Are you alright?" She nods, pressing Weiss' cool skin to her cheek, and sniffs softly.

"It was about my mom." She croaks, and the surprise that crosses Weiss' face is expected. In the two weeks they've known each other, Summer Rose was never a topic of discussion.

With patient eyes, Weiss watches Ruby, gaze flickering across tan skin. Ruby breathes in deep,, taking in Weiss' mint like smell.

(The story isn't happy, it's not even long, but the story of Summer rose is this; she was beautiful, strong, and kind. She made the best snicker doodle cookies of all time, and her death was Ruby's fault. Well, if you asked Ruby that's what she'd say. She'd say that if it wasn't for her her mother would be alive.)

Ruby was six years old when the worst day of her life happened. It had started off great! Summer woke Ruby up bright and early for her favorite Saturday morning cartoons, and in the afternoon she promised to make her famous snicker doodle cookies. Before they could cook them though they had to run to the store. Yang was a big girl, and could stay home alone, but wasn't old enough to keep an eye on her six-year-old little sister, so Ruby was off on a grocery store adventure with her mom.

The next several hours were a blur. When her father and uncle would explain everything later they would tell her not to blame herself. That the driver that swerved off the road would have hit her if it weren't for Summer, protecting her little rose bud,

Her last memories of her mother was a broken smile covered in blood telling her to go get Yang and to stay with her. And "I love you my little rosebud."

Ruby's crying again when she finishes her story, and Weiss looks lost as she tries to sooth the tears. "It's alright to cry sometimes Weiss." Her voice is watery and weak, and she knows it worries the angel. "Thank you for being here for me."

Once her crying stops she explains that it's about the time of year that it happened, close to her birthday as autumn rolls in, and that there has been someone with snicker doodle cookies. Weiss nods, clearly resisting the urge to go 'all guardian angel' on the poor woman on her way to a potluck.

They decide to head home early, Weiss her classes can wait till she's not on the verge of constant tears. The walk home is sombre, with the only positive being that Weiss refuses to release Ruby's hand.

Once home, they descend to the basement where they change into more comfortable clothes. Predictably, Weiss strips without thinking, and Ruby has to hide her face in a pillow to cover her embarrassment.

Rolling her eyes Weiss sighs, "The gods made your bodies perfect, the fact that you feel the need to cover them with these, 'clothes' is modesty that is unwarranted."

Ruby looks down to the outfit she slept in, sweatpants and a hand-me-down tank top from Yang. She makes to say something, but can't think of the right words, and Weiss is still so close.

"The human body is quite possibly the only thing I've ever liked about humans before I met you Ruby." Shifting under the angel's stare Ruby feels herself flush.

"You like our bodies Weiss?" The way her voice sounds is impossibly soft, and it seems to annoy the angel further. She lunges forward yanking Ruby's tank top off, leaving the redhead in her sports bra.

"Like I said Ruby, humans have no need to be so concerned with modesty-" Weiss pauses, she's ended up sitting across Ruby's legs, the tan woman below her flushed and topless, holding herself up on tense arms, and she stares.

Ruby never really considered herself more than above average, with track she kept herself lean, and with Yang for an older sister she had built some muscle, but Weiss was looking at her like she had the answer to the meaning of life tattooed on her abs. (Something Ruby realizes Weiss would probably already know, or at least, would know more about than her, or her abs for that matter.) The silence between them stretches, Weiss' eyes flicker across Ruby's body, her hips that peak out from the almost too large sweatpants, her abs, chest, neck, and finally her lips, then down again.

"Weiss-" The silver haired woman stops her with a delicate hand, pressing her index finger to almost chapped lips. Ruby watches Weiss lick her own lips, breathing out a heavy breath, the weight in her chest pulls again, but unlike the other times she doesn't shy from it. Her heart beats a mile a minute in her chest, but she focuses on clear sky blue as Weiss presses her palms into the muscles of her abdomen.

Blue eyes dilate as Weiss mouths a soft 'oh,' trailing soft pale fingers over tan muscles. She turns her attention to Ruby's arms, scooting forward to sit in Ruby's lap on the basement bed. As she examines Ruby's biceps, and up to her shoulders, she licks her lips again. Ruby is almost shaking with Weiss so close, the soft smell of cool mint accompanying her light touches. When Weiss gets to her neck she uses both hands to cradle Ruby's jaw, pressing her thumbs into skin and bone before focusing fully on Ruby's lips.

She's done this before, Ruby had been in a similar situation, in high school. She had a girl on her lap and they kissed like real people do, but it was never like this, never with Weiss. The angel presses a delicate thumb across Ruby's lower lip, running it across the soft skin. They lock eyes, unfocused and intense, and Ruby had never wanted to do anything more than brave the distance between them and kiss those sinfully sweet looking lips.

There's a thump and a slam upstairs, and Ruby senses a time frame for whatever is happening between them, either one of them moves forward or Yang or Blake walk in on them. Weiss decides for them, pressing forward and against soft lips. Ruby nearly gasps into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Weiss' waist as the flop fully to the bed. The kiss is soft and slow, patient. Ruby lets Weiss make all the moves, her hands pressed softly against Ruby's collar bones, thumbs massaging into the skin above her clavicle. Weiss presses her tongue between Ruby's lips, tasting the taller woman's mouth before Ruby moves forward to do the same.

There's a stomping before the door to the basement is opened, and heavy steps tromp down the stairs, but neither woman moves before they hear Yang in the stairway, "Uhhhh."

Weiss moves first, slowly pulling herself away from Ruby's face, but the redhead holds her waist close. "Ruby-"

"I'm gonna go!" From the doorway Yang shifts, cutting Weiss off and bolting up the stairs before slamming the door behind her.

The wound seems to snap Ruby out of her trance, she flushes and hides her face in her arms. "Today is so weird!" she shouts into her folded arms, and Weiss giggles, like actually giggles! They're fluttery and soft and Ruby feels her chest swell with affection.

They curl up together, Weiss' head on her chest, and even though the day had been rough, it was easier with the angel by her side. Ruby can't help but thank the goddess that tossed Weiss out for her presence, and she hopes the fallen angel feels that way too.