Fate: "BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH"

Fate: So, anyway, Happy Valentine's Day from Fate, and…

Prick: That Anonymous Prick!

Fate: At least, this was supposed to be out on Valentine's Day, but Prick has been rather… yeah, he's been dicking around and he was irresponsible enough to go and get himself sick, again.

Fate: This special little one-shot here is actually something I am proud to have worked on. Prick really tried when he actually worked on it. The pure emotional trip and the beautiful fluff wouldn't be possible without him as, according to someone, I am far too serious or just plain dark to perform such an act.

Prick: You brought up death in like, two sentences…

Fate: What's more romantic than the promise to all things? An end. Death is nothing to be sad about when you accept it, just do your best to live your life how you want it before then.

Prick: Shit, like, anything? Hell, sparkly vampires… like you, but sparkly. And a little less drab and depressing… like, seriously, I think your attitude got me this damned cold that was followed up by a Dust damned fever! I had hallucinations, in word form! It was actually about this story… Fevered dreams make the best one shots...Speaking about death, man do we have a lot of that this season of RWBY! And as much as it pains me to watch the proud Arkos ship plummet to the depths of the ocean that is non-canonical, we can all find solace in the fact that we can rechristen the S.S. Lancaster...

Fate: I just find the beauty in madness. And there are very few things with as high of potential in madness than a poor teenage girl with boundless dreams when faced with a bitter taste of what some would call reality. And don't you dare mention Pyrrha's passing! She wasn't the only one who was shot in the heart…. *Places my hand over my chest and closes my eyes.*

Prick: Are you calling me a teenage girl?

Fate: Are you telling me you think I'd call my friend and writer a teenage girl? Oh, and my apologies, readers, I'm not as bad as he makes me out to be, I do enjoy sweet things as much as the next odd guy.

Prick: Fate's right. (He's a lot worse, pretending he has a heart…)

Fate: Pyrrha… I think one of the worst parts is that Cinder hit her in the Achilles Heel, which is who Pyrrha is based off of.

Prick: I think the heart is everyone's Achilles Heel, Fate...that and every cell in our body, which proved to be Pyrrha's ultimate Achilles Heel. That, or her inability to be fireproof, either one really…

Fate: Pay better attention to details, Prick. The only reason she was hit in the heart was because the first arrow hit her in the heel. That, or you used this as an excuse to make jokes.

Prick: What? Moi? Make jokes at your expense? Never! The very thought...

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"Aw, man, I'm sorry for all the jokes, Blake, I take them all back. There's nothing funny about the gloriousness of cat naps." Yang said airily as she stretched her arms high above her head and let out a great yawn. Her Faunus counterpart was far too tired to even think about complaining and merely nodded her head in agreement.

The one and only Schnee Heiress couldn't find the strength to scold the busty blonde for her antics, so, with a nod of her head, she mentally decided to give the girl a piece of her mind at some future juncture. While she was internally praising herself, she realized that their leader was lagging behind. A scowl marred Weiss' face as she realized that there weren't many things that could take the pep of out Ruby - and physical exhaustion wasn't one of them.

Despite the team having a rather happy moment at the end of the day, merely thankful they were all alive, Weiss knew that the day's events may have finally begun to weigh down the girl's mind. Slowing her stroll to a mere amble, the white-haired girl wringed her hands as she found herself uncertain on how to breach the subject.

She wished she could just tell Ruby off, demanding that the younger girl be thankful she survived it all and even managed to do some good, but she knew the Scythe-wielder would see through the ploy and it would ultimately only remind her that she didn't do all the good she could; people died. Some were innocent civilians, others were White Fang soldiers. They didn't directly kill anyone, well, Weiss was certain Ruby didn't. The girl undoubtedly bludgeoned the goons to unconsciousness, like a decent, naive, person, but...

Weiss hesitated for a few steps to find the proper word to describe it. Naive. While it didn't perfectly describe Ruby, the word misguided wouldn't exactly cut it either. While Weiss herself had never killed anyone, at least intentionally, she understood that sometimes the only way to save your life and the lives of others was to remove the threat, by… killing… the threat… The life of one delinquent, who could very well be a murderer, for the lives of loved ones and the lives of innocents." 'I mean, we are protectors..' Weiss thought to herself in hopes of convincing herself that her realist beliefs on the subject were justified. 'What am I doing? I'm supposed to be finding out what's bothering her, not trying to convince myself on the roles of a Huntress.

In the time it took for Weiss to come to terms with herself, Ruby had almost passed her. Remembering the words of her teammates, the white haired girl tried to get rid of her scowl. While everyone who really got to know her knew that it was the default face she made when she was being serious, she still wanted to come off as friendly. Her intentions were noble, after all, and maybe the insufferable dolts that were everybody would finally drop the dreaded moniker Ice Queen.

The Ice Queen flashed Ruby a small smile that almost looked natural, and the short redhead almost hid her befuddlement. They both stared at one another silently in the hall, neither dropping their equally strange faces. After about a minute, Ruby cracked, her lips quivering, the looming smile all but already there for Weiss. They both erupted into a fit of giggles, Ruby openly laughed her heart out as she clenched her gut, while her counterpart managed to cease her actions after only a few seconds by coughing into her fist and playing it all off.

"What'ca need, Weiss?" Ruby asked, a tired but cheerful smile gracing her lips.

"Well, I don't need anything of you right now. Actually, I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you?" She responded as she slowed her walk to a small gait so she wouldn't outpace her leader.

"Hmmm...don't suppose you'd be up to ordering a literal ton of cookies?" The scythe-wielder asked with only a moment's hesitation.

"I'll see what I can do…" The high-heel clad girl said with only semi-seriousness, rolling her eyes at her friend's antics.

"Wait, really?! That's...very nice of you, Weiss. Thanks so much." Ruby said with a bit of caution in her voice as she stopped and looked at her pale friend. She stood in place, seeming to want to squirm as she rubbed her arm in obvious discomfort until equally flustered arms wrapped around her quickly, constricting for a moment before letting go and slightly pushing off her.

"Th-think nothing of it, Ruby. I, um...appreciate you. As my leader, my, er...close friend, I often find you less insufferable than the rest." Weiss stuttered out, holding her hands behind her back out of an old childhood habit she'd taken to copy when she was younger…

"Not that I don't like, all this," the redhead says while she swings her arms to signify she meant everything, "but what's this all about Weiss?"

"Well...to be frank," Weiss smiles even as she scoffs at Ruby, who merely rolled her eyes as if to say 'like always', "I...I'm worried about you. I know you think yourself an adult, milk and all that, but I'm genuinely worried for you, as a friend. Today, we went through a lot, and I know a lot of things must surely be plaguing your mind. What I'm building up to, if I had to sum it all up, is that you don't make the same mistakes I've made and think that asking for help on what to make of everything you're thinking doesn't make you any weaker, and no one would belittle you for it. You taught me that, everyone did, really."

"Wow, Weiss, that's...really caring of you. I don't know what to say. Thank you? That doesn't really feel like it works, huh? It doesn't matter, this was totally cool of you and I hope you know that I really appreciate you, too." The cape-donned girl said with sincere a cheer in her voice, the Ruby-happiness that had been absent in her tone returning slightly.

"Very well, then, I'm glad we could get all of that sorted out. I know I'm not the first person you'd go to for issues, know that I'm here for you." Weiss said, ruffling her combat skirt to rid of it wrinkles, a force of habit she never considered breaking.

With one last, gentle smile, she opened the door and held it for Ruby, giving her a small curtsy that Ruby returned clumsily, walking in after her leader.

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"Hey there, you two! You guys sure took your sweet time. Something the matter?" Yang asked, already dressed in her pyjamas, Blake just finishing the process of throwing on her yukata.

"Just some girl talk, nothing that'd you'd understand." Weiss responded in a teasing voice, sticking her tongue out at Yang before Ruby could answer. She looked over at the Weiss, shooting her a questioning glance only to be met with a wink. She shrugged it off and decided to go with it.

"Yeah, that's about it, big sis. Sorry to say, I've finally found a good role model to latch on to. You have my deepest condolences, Blake, you were a close second." Ruby remarked casually, starting the tedious process of removing her corset.

"I'll take my loss with dignity." Blake responded, her amber eyes bright as they seemed to glow with playful mischief.

"Hey, how am I not a good role model? Sure, I may have fed you a tad bit too many cookie-dinners, but I'd like to think you came out alright…" Yang trailed off as she sat down on the edge of her bed, throwing her hands up in the universal gesture of 'Why?'

"Who knows, the world may never know." Ruby said nonchalantly as she picked up an adorable Zwei, hugging the little fur ball closely. Smiling to herself, Ruby let the corgi go, rolling her eyes as she lied down, hearing Blake hiss as little furry footsteps could be heard trodding off in her direction. Closing her eyes, she decided that getting her pyjamas on was too much of a hassle and she wasn't in her school outfit anyways. She missed the questioning looks Blake and Yang shot at Weiss, who merely pointed a finger at Ruby.

"Hey, Rubes?" The busty blonde asked aloud, trying to get her sister's attention.

"Yeah?" The scythe-wielder yawned out in a fashion most wouldn't hesitate to call cute.

"Is...everything alright?" Blake asked, her tone low.

"Yeah, everything's great. I don't see why everyone's asking that. I mean, everything worked out, right? The bad guys lost, the good guys won, and we saved a lot of lives today. Everything should be great…" Ruby trailed off, her face contorting subconsciously, and everyone in the room noticed, though none of them decided to speak up and risk stopping their leader's train of thought. "Except...it isn't. Or, maybe it is, and it's just not… good enough for me? I know we did a lot of good today, the whole world and their mother were thanking us for our valor and all that stuff, but… I ended up biting my tongue. I… tried not to think of it at the time, but… I know you all saw it. We didn't save everyone. Those White Fang in the tunnels… all those tarps the Atlesian Knights put down at the end of the day…"

Everyone could only listen on in shock, none of them were very surprised by the development, they had all expected the matter to come up sooner or later, but not so heavily and so early on. It was Blake who caught the looks she was receiving from Weiss and Yang, and she realized it they were looks of pleading, mingled with defeat. They both wanted to help Ruby, obviously, but neither could really claim to have coped with death before. Not on a wide scale like that day. But Blake had, and not once either. Death was also a constant threat that loomed over your head when you worked with the White Fang, and the bow wearing girl had quickly learned to make peace with the dreaded reality that was always possible.

"Yang, I think we all deserve a reward for today's efforts, and what better reward than cookies? Come on, your man hands are far better suited to remedial labor like lugging a literal ton of cookies." Weiss called out to Yang, already moving to the door and only raising a skeptical eyebrow when her curvy teammate immediately followed, pyjamas and all. She tried not to roll her eyes, she really did, and she only scoffed at the sympathetic look Blake had given her when Yang only wiggled her eyebrows as if daring the white haired girl to point out a problem, or two, to be specific.

Blake climbed up the precariously arranged bunk-bed, sitting down at the edge equal parts to give Ruby space and to distribute the weight equally so as to not tempt the Bunk-Bed Gods, whose favor was probably the only reason Weiss hadn't been squished to death tragically.

"So...death, huh?" Blake let out with a dramatic sigh.

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Ruby finally cracked open an eye, looking at the flustered Blake who was probably kicking herself over and over again for the subtle conversation starter. Letting out a quick complaint about needing sleep under her breath, the redhead started to rise until she sat cross legged in the middle of the bed.

"It's not the first time I've met it, you know? I'm not that sheltered." Rose explains with what she hopes is a comedic eye roll. Her nerve breaks down a bit though when she's met with Blake's blank stare and a moment of silence.

"I knew it wasn't Ruby. One doesn't live in this world and not see some stage of it somewhere. And I know you've...had your own personal experience with it, close to home."

This time it was her turn to receive a look and a room full of silence, although Ruby's was somber.

"I...have... My mother, Summer Rose, she...died in the field. We assume… Like I said, I always knew death was a possibility. That… it never… haunted me, I guess would be the term. Sure, I'd never want to die, I wouldn't just lie over and let it happen, but I always worried more about others. Don't think I could so easily put the lives of others easily over mine, it's just… I learned that death often hurts the ones around you more than it does you."

Blake was taken aback, even though she wasn't very surprised. She knew the kind of person Ruby Rose was, the things she'd do for a friend, and with that mantra the Arc boy had gotten into her head, something about strangers already your friends or such, Ruby had taken to holding her heart out on her sleeve.

"I understand. That's...very noble of you Ruby. Honestly, I can't say I am as fearless or as honorable as you. For friends, family, maybe I'd do something like that, but for someone I don't know… I won't argue with you about it. It's one of several wonderful things that makes you, you. But a word of advice, if you'll hear it. Don't make your passing anymore of a tragedy than it already will be, Ruby. Live your life, I'd say to the fullest, but just enjoying it in your own way would be enough. You don't have to hit up nightclubs and live recklessly with no cares in the world, achieve mastery over everything you try, or devote your life to a monumental goal, just make the little things count and make sure you have the least regrets in the end. It's something I learned quickly in the White Fang, and it's one of the few things I can look back on and never regret."

"I've… lived my life. I've drunk many a mug of milk in my days…" Ruby whimpered, biting her lip as Blake struck at the heart of her fears, always seeming to root out the problem right away.

"I know you've got plenty of things in life you appreciate, Ruby, you're not the kind of person to take things for granted, but can you honestly say you've nothing to regret if you never made it out of this dorm room?" Amber eyes seemed to pierce silver ones as Blake moved to stand in front of the shorter girl's gaze.

"..." Ruby licked her lips, her fingers drumming against her back, reminding her Crescent Rose was at her locker. Her eyes flicker to Blake's side, where pale fingers drum against the black metal that is Gambol Shroud. When she returns to Blake's unwavering gaze, she's aware of the small tugging on the older girl's lips as her eyes dart to the area where Crescent Rose ought to be. She'd been seen!

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"...I guess I'd hate to go before I get that first kiss." Ruby finally relented, rolling her eyes at the ninja of her team's antics. She cried out in exasperation and finally grew a spine once she saw the almost comedic act of Blake's eyes widening to saucepan proportions, and the giggles she tried to cough away. Letting out a harsh war cry, she violently threw a karate chop at her fellow teammate, already planning the trip to the spa that she'd be forced to take her sister to once news of her murder had been delivered. Of course, Ruby was surprised when she felt her palm make solid contact, the limp form of Blake rolling off the bed, and hitting the floor promptly. Letting out a shriek at the accidental murder, the scythe-wielder could only glare at Blake, who was letting out a deep, guttural laugh from her bunk.

"So, your first kiss, huh?" The Faunus said casually, though the teasing undertone didn't go unnoticed.

"Yes, I still haven't had my first kiss…" Ruby admitted, hanging her head in shame.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Ruby. Honestly, it's a bit cute. Like you're saving it for the right person. Do you have any clue about who that might be?"

"Hmmm…." The redhead hummed aloud, digging her toe into the bed as she pretended to think upon the matter, when the answer had come almost instantly to mind.

The dorm room swung open loudly as Ruby faced the direction. Weiss stood in the doorway, a single box of chocolate chip cookies in her hand with Yang holding a stack of boxes, no doubt filled with the sugary treats, but the leader of Team RWBY paid them no mind, for she was gazing over their shoulders to see past them.

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Tap. Tap. Tap.

Jaune opened his eyes gently, letting out a deeply satisfied sigh as the rays of early morning adorned the dorm room in the most appealing of lights. With a mighty yawn, he gingerly moves aside his blankets and raises himself to sit on the edge of his bed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Just a moment!" The built blonde bellowed. Jumping up onto his feet, he flashed his best bro a dazzling smile full of pearly white teeth that could've blinded the sun. He walked to the restroom with a swagger, emerging a moment later with a cup of water in hand and toothbrush already scrubbing away in the other. He opened the door with confidence, pleasantly surprised by who he saw on the other side.

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Knock. Knock.

…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

…

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

A blurry, magenta eye shot open, glaring. While all his frustration and hatred was currently festering at the waking world, it was slowly becoming focused on the incessant knocking. Who in their Oum-damned minds would come over at… 6:00 a.m!?

Ren had just begun to finger the trigger on one of Stormflower when he heard his fearless leader awakening. A guttural grumble, that came out more like a whimper that would have an entire forest of predators on the lookout for a downed bunny, came from the other side of the small dorm.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Barely finding the strength inside of himself, Ren managed to turn his head to face Jaune. He watched on in irritated silence as the sheets that were already half hanging off the bed frame were spasmodically thrown onto the dirty, dirty carpet completely. Had he the energy, the stoic would've raised an eyebrow at his leader who had proceeded to roll out of bed and face plant onto the dirty floor/sheets before throwing himself up onto a knee, shakily rising to his feet. The walking zombie seemed to look in Ren's direction, and the sleepy boy's grip on the weapon he kept underneath his pillow tightened as the Thing's face muscles seemed to contort randomly, it's tongue lolling out of the corner of its mouth. It shuffled towards the bathroom, slamming the door open a full minute later. It held a glass of water, and seemed to be attempting to put the brush in its mouth, though it took three tries in which it smeared white paste all along its cheek. Finally reaching the door, the handle was fumbled with for a few, grueling seconds before the door was finally opened.

"...Rugggggee?"

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Ruby cursed to herself beneath her breath, trying to get out the creases on her combat skirt.

"Dang, dang, dang it all! Oh, fudge, I can't even...gah!"

She danced on the tips of her feet in discomfort, taking a glance at her dorm with needful eyes, quickly glaring at Blake who stuck her tongue out before quickly shutting the door, with an audible click signifying she wouldn't be getting back in there any time soon.

"I'm so spraying her with water next chance I get...I'll freaking buy a bottle, I don't care.."

The door opened slowly, an audible creak coming from what should be a rather new door…

"...Rugggggee?" A bleary-eyed Jaune moaned aloud. He tried to blink away the crust that had amassed over his sleep, scratching his chest afterwards, and that's when Ruby realized he was shirtless. And that training did wonders for the physique.

"I-I-I, uh… need a minute? K' thanks so much, remember just a minute!" The redhead squeaked out as she quickly pushed Jaune back a bit, closing his door. She never saw him shrug on the other side. After the minute was up, Ruby worked up the nerve to knock once more. Her fears got the best of her when Jaune didn't open the door right away, and was ready to dash into her door and break it down if she had to, when the click of the door caught her attention. The scraggly blonde walked out into the hall, a bit more presentable now. He had on his hoodie, much to Ruby's relief and chagrin, and his face was all cleaned up though his hair was still the equivalent of a disheveled mess.

"Heeyyy, Ruby, good look amazing. " Jaune said quietly, yawning at the beginning and lifting a hand to rub at his eyes. He smiled at the younger girl, the terrible affliction of not being a morning person ridding him of any inhibitions. Jaune's smile faltered though when the cute girl's face seemed to redden in anger as she glared at him.

"You're not making this any easier..." She hissed out before sighing in an obvious attempt to calm herself. Jaune only shook his head, assuming this was just another strange thing about girls Ren would have to teach him about later.

"Sorry?"

"Jaune, wouldyougooutonadatewithme?" Ruby quickly shot out.

"Eh, what was that? I didn't catch any of it." The clueless blonde chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"Would you...like to go out on a date with me?" She managed to finally say, with only a bit of hesitation. She had to squeeze her eyes shut as she balled up her fists as her side though, and didn't see Jaune's jaw drop in amazement. All she heard was silence, and she'd would've like to claim pinpricks of tears didn't start to form in the corners of her eyes when the silence dragged on. She was already turning her feet, ready to sprint down the hallway and away from her rejection, when she felt his shoulder on her arm.

"That's...that would be...yes. Great. I-I'd love to. Uh, uhhhh. When, though? I'd have to get ready, you know what why don't you come in?" Jaune bumbled out, a bit flustered.

"I was actually thinking we could head to this little cafe a… friend recommended, where we could figure out the day. It's, eh, today. The date, that is. If, you know, you can make it." Ruby squeaked out, shrinking into her cloak at the boldness of her own words.

"That works." Jaune said, eyes locked with her, both of them a bit caught up in how quickly everything happened.

"Well, I'll be here, waiting for you to be ready." The shorter girl mumbled with a lopsided smile, subtly prompting the boy to snap back to the task at hand.

"Oh, yeah! You're, uh, not wearing your usual outfit?" Jaune asked, noting the grey long sleeve with belted cuffs at the ends. Oblivious to the rush of color to her cheeks, he leaned against his doorway and held a hand, his toothbrush long forgotten, to his chin, openly observing Ruby. He noticed the pinafore, its red stitched lines sort of resembling her corset, and scarf-addition of the cloak. What stood out the most to him though were the cross buckles she had, as well as the cross she had on her belt, beside the silver rose emblem. He was about to comment on them when he looked back up to see the embarrassed look Ruby was shooting at him, and he laughed nervously, only now realizing he was kind of checking her out, or at least that's what it seemed like. He gave her a thumbs up, and wordlessly stepped back into his room, closing the door as he began to prepare.

She heard a bit of fumbling, and what sounded like an Ursa's roar that was promptly followed by muffled sounds of distress and apologies. After a short two minutes, Jaune reemerged. He was clad in a blue trench coat, armor strapped on over it, with Crocea Mors tucked neatly behind his coat, no shield in view.

"It's not what I'd usually wear, obviously… honestly I feel like… I'd wear this if I were a professor's aid or something."

"It, uh..suits you." The flustered redhead commented aloud, a bit more embarrassed about the whole ordeal than she had imagined she'd be. In her head, she was going to be suave, cool, collected, and maybe even a teeny tiny bit flirty. That whole train of thinking was derailed however when he shot her a grin, the appropriate amount of teeth showing and all that.

"Th-thanks, you look great yourself. So, uh, shall we get going?"

"Yeah, yeah. We'll catch the first bullhead out to Vale in about a half hour. We should arrive right on time if we walk slowly."

"Ruby Rose, walk slowly? I don't think I can even imagine it." Jaune quipped dramatically, putting a hand on his heart as he shook his head as to rid the notion from his head. Smiling at the giggle it coerced from her, his walk gained a little pep, though he had plenty pep already considering the first thing that had happened that day was a date. Sure, Ruby was a bit younger than him, and not the… kind of beauty some people would've prefered, but she was still beautiful in her own way and a great friend.

Of course, Jaune couldn't think about certain aspects of a woman for long before one of his neurons in his head gaped the connection between aspects and Yang Xiao-Long, and he gasped out loud, his step faltering. His hand, which had been swinging, stopped dead in its tracks, and soft fingers briefly brushed them before quickly pulling away. Jaune looked at Ruby, a bit of the blood rushing back to color his not-so pale cheeks, but his fears died down at the furious blush the younger sister of the girl in his immediate thoughts was sporting.

"Something the matter, Jaune?" She asked, looking away, not trusting herself to be able to maintain eye contact if she caught his gaze.

"Uh...no. Nothing at all, I guess I'm still getting over the shock of getting to go on a date with such a pretty gal, is all." Jaune replied almost without thought, actually surprising himself with his own words. He was a bit downcast when all Ruby replied with was an 'oh.' That was quickly replaced with a small smile, however, when he felt those same soft fingers brush his again, Ruby notably walking a bit closer to him.

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Jaune paled, staring in silent terror at the monstrosity. Ruby stood by his side, grabbing him by the arm and nodding at him with determination, her eyes assuring him of the confidence she had in him. With a sigh, the Arc bit his cheek as he allowed the shorter girl to drag him towards what he knew could possibly be his death.

Being the first scheduled trip of the day, ready at the Monty-forsaken hour of 6:45 a.m., the pilot hadn't been expecting to take off for at least another two hours, and was quite content to doze away at his chair with a nice warm glass of milk. He could only curse to himself at the pair of children who were expectantly waiting to be hauled off to Vale like it was his job to fly them around.

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"Relax, Jaune, the pilots here at Beacon are top notch. If I hadn't seen one of them in person, I would've assumed they were robots. They're total professionals, and we're probably their number one priority." Ruby assured her green friend, who could only nod along to her words while he stared at the floor, moving to their seats at a snail's pace.

"We haven't even started moving…" The girl mumbled aloud, giggling at the petrified face Jaune made when her words finally registered.

"I-I-I… I already made a doofus of myself, huh?" Jaune sputtered out, his voice full of defeat, even as Ruby sat him down beside her.

"I'd personally use the word dork, but that's up to you." The redhead said as she playfully punched his shoulder. The Arc gave a small smile at that, but then his face became neutral as it became visibly obvious he was concentrating. The ship lurched suddenly, jostling the two, and one of them let out a long groan as the actual motion began.

Jaune's green face contrasted Ruby's red one as she slowly, slowly, raised her arm to wrap it around Jaune's head, tentatively pushing him down until he was on her shoulder. It was a major step up from brushing his fingers and her heart couldn't be any faster if a Deathstalker suddenly appeared, but Ruby found solace in the fact Jaune hadn't objected. Neither saw the smile that was etched on both their faces, but they didn't have to.

It would be a while before they arrived at Vale, and the scythe-wielder did the one thing most normal problem did when they were on a long trip and not in danger of puking should they dare commit the act, appreciate the view. Beacon still looked breathtaking to Ruby, from the horizon or amongst its halls, not that she'd ever admit that to any of her teammates, who she felt would judge her for managing to geek out over something she'd been seeing for nearly half a year. While the girl began to delve deeper and deeper into her thoughts, she lost her sense of surrounding; lost in her own little world made up of her worries, aspirations, deep philosophies about cookies and life, and the like, her fingers didn't remain idle.

With a mind of their own, the small digits began to play with the soft, golden locks that were so tantalizingly nearby. And while the small girl didn't realize what she was doing, the blonde beside her certainly did. Had she been paying attention, his initial reaction consisting of a loud grunt, hitched breathing, and a slight stirring, wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

"R-Ruby?"

"Hm?" She hummed to him, not quite snapping right back to reality, her fingers still curling and tugging on his hair.

"What, uh… what're ya doing?" Jaune asked, his body comically still as his face practically conveyed all the expressions his body language would've.

"Wellllll, I'm on a date with this huge dork." Ruby drawled out, curling a hair for emphasis, and then stiffening up as she realized what she'd been doing for quite a while. Mentally reassuring herself with a quick mantra of 'This is my chance!' the girl decided to hell with it, full throttle.

"Huge? Pfft, I'm not that big of a dork… you're the geek around Beacon…" Jaune quipped, not commenting on just how nice he realized Ruby's hands felt as they all but massaged his scalp.

"Yeah, sure. At least you're a handsome dork. I wouldn't quite say dreamy, but maybe starting to approach hunk levels…" She trailed off as if in deep thought on the matter.

"Oh, w-wow. Thanks! You're pretty good looking yourself, but I'm sure you knew that." Jaune said in a bit of a rush, most of the paleness in his face having been replaced with a light tint of pink that conveyed just how often Jaune received compliments.

"Eh...yeah. Well, not really… Jaune, can you be serious with me for a moment. I...need you to be upfront with me." The short redhead said, the mood quickly turning serious to mirror her inflection.

"Of course, anything for you. What can I do?" The Arc asked, lifting himself off Ruby for the first time since their trip had started, all signs of sickness gone.

"I, uh… well, it's kind of hard to ask. I don't want to come off sounding vain, but… it's just-" She stammered until she was interrupted by the scraggly young man, who moved closer to her until their sides were pressed against one another. He pushed on her with his shoulder, applying a light but firm pressure until the girl smirked at him and finally gave, being jostled a bit by his strange antics. Shaking her head with a smile, she turned her head to see he had done the same, their faces mere inches from one another, his blue eyes demanding her attention.

"I know you, ok? So don't worry about coming off as anything, because I'd like to think I know the very first friend I made at Beacon." He remarked, never breaking eye contact, even as he moved a hand to swipe away a crimson lock of hair. A heart-warming smile slowly crept onto her face and suddenly it was Ruby who couldn't stand to look at Jaune who wasn't making an effort to hide the effect Ruby's reaction was having on him.

"Well, every time someone talked about me...it's always the same things. I know it's the thought that counts but constantly being called cute, dorky, funny, it...wears me down. Of course I smile, they're compliments, after all...it's just that no one ever says pretty. Or beautiful, hot, even...sexy. They stick with the words Weiss uses to describe Zwei...I don't even know if I'm allowed to complain about something like this!" Ruby finished, her voice having risen in volume as her passion on the matter became more and more obvious.

"I don't know what to tell you, Rubes. I wish I could disagree, tell you all the things you want to hear, but I can't. When I think of Ruby Rose, I think of a cute, energetic, innocent, light-hearted, and fun person. One thing, though, you are beautiful! Your hair, it's exotic and I doubt anyone who's ever seen it would soon forget it. Your silver eyes, I could stare at them all day. And your personality, I know it's a bit hard to start talking to people, but there's a reason you make friends with everyone who's forced to get to know you. I'm sure you could have your moments...you looked beautiful in that dress you wore to the dance. Some might even say, well, um... hot." Jaune explained, tugging a bit at his armor in embarrassment, not quite believing he'd seriously just said that.

"Watch it, you…" A quick punch to his shoulder. "You almost sounded like somebody who's actually sauve...Thanks, Jaune, you have a way with words that just, eh! You make me happy, vomit boy."

"Your welcome, Crater Face." The Arc chuckled, resisting the urge to rub his shoulder that really stung, lest he ruin the cool streak he'd finally gotten.

The pair settled into a comfortable silence after that, Ruby having reluctantly taken up Jaune's role. Resting her head against his shoulder, she let out a content sigh when he pushed her off only to adjust so she'd be more comfortable. She was bored within a matter of minutes, and it wasn't long before her mind started to drift again, and one thought kept bouncing around in her head. What had gotten Jaune over his motion sickness, and a smirk tugged at her lips as she contemplated the answer.

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Jaune raised an eyebrow at the redhead across the table that was clearly growing more and more restless. Catching yet another one of the "sneaky" glances she'd been shooting at him for the last twenty minutes, he finally put down his own menu that'd been obscuring his grin from her sight. He watched on in amusement as terror flashed across her face at realizing she'd been caught, confusion when he merely raised an eyebrow and lowered his menu, deep concentration as she squinted her eyes in focus as she scanned his face, and cute, cute grumpiness as she pouts at his smirk.

"Ruby, how did you come to know about this place again?" The blonde asked, managing to keep most of his giddiness out of his voice.

"You see...the thing is...a friend kinda suggested it. I really don't come to fancy-schmancy restaurants very often...Jaune what is this stuff?"

"I think biscuits and crumpets are the same thing. Imagine fluffy bread. As for the rest, I have no clue." He admitted, scratching his cheek in reluctant admittance, laughing at the accusatory glare his date was shooting him.

"And you had the gall to laugh at me...Well, whatever. We came here to plan out the rest of our day. So, uh...what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, Ruby, you asked me out on this date, remember? What would you like to do?" Jaune asked, finally managing to say the word date without a stutter or a blush sprouting on his face.

"Ugh, we're on this date together, Jaune. We decide where we're going. And besides...I don't have a lot of experience with dates." Ruby mumbled the last part to herself.

"Fine, fine. Well, we could always go watch a movie. I haven't kept up with anything because of training and Beacon in general, but I'm sure we could find something good."

"A movie? That sounds great. People go to the movies on dates all the time. Then, maybe we could follow it up with dinner? Oh, but it'd barely be the afternoon, huh? Lunch can still work though, right? Ah, I don't know, I'm sure it'll all be great, right?" Ruby asked in a bit of a blur, her words jumbling together as she fired off question after question, all the while she rubbed her arm nervously.

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Jaune wasn't certain when things began to go wrong. Things had been going so great at the beginning of the day. They'd decided to peruse Vale until they ran into a theatre, having found one after a short walk, which they had spent talking. He thought he had been rather suave, and Ruby seemed to be humoring him. Maybe it had been when it came time to pay for the movie and Jaune realized he'd mistakenly brought 10 lien cards instead of the 100's.

Ruby had told him it wasn't a big deal when she picked up the last twenty lien for the tickets even after Jaune had gotten rid of all his snacks, insisting he'd pay for Ruby's. Even then, she didn't seem all that into the movie, and just about jumped out of her seat the second the credits started rolling. Maybe he'd offended her when he tried to be chivalrous, pulling out her chairs, holding doors open for her, the works. Jaune couldn't help but let his thoughts on the matter drift.

Maybe...maybe she's realizing she just wants to be friends with me.

As the day dragged on, Ruby seemed to get more and more sullen. She didn't want to show it, and she always put on a brave face when she caught Jaune's eye, but he saw it. The subtle dipping of her head, the look in her eyes that clearly conveyed she was somewhere else, the small twitches her lip suffered.

Still, she seemed to try. They spent the rest of the day the same way. No matter what he tried, taking her to restaurants, showing her the sights, trying his best to cheer her up just didn't seem to do anything. His resolve to stay strong and work to fix it was quickly fading, a result of having to see his fruitless labor seem to get sadder and sadder in front of his very eyes.

It was on a walk along a pier during the evening that Ruby finally seemed willing to open up. They had taken a seat on a bench just a bit aways from the edge of the pier, overlooking a beautiful view of the sea stretching endlessly into the horizon, the sun just beginning to color streaks through the sky.

Jaune took the sight before him with a deep breathe, giving the beautiful, young woman besides him an open, forlorn look. He closed his eyes as he prepared himself for his last attempt at salvaging the night, muttering a quick prayer to Monty, before hesitantly placing his hand on Ruby's and interlocking their fingers. He turned to look at her, to gauge her reaction. But if she had one, she kept it to herself as she didn't even seem to notice. His fingers slipped free of hers as he frowned, but his eyes remained on Ruby. He followed her gaze, realizing she'd never been looking at the ocean or the sky at all, but to a small family at the end of the pier. A family of three, a Father and Mother, with one little girl to boot. The child looked no older than six, and the cheery smile on her face spoke volumes of how the girl was in the state of naivety and carelessness that only the ignorant were blessed with. Her parents though, and the small smiles etched on their faces certainly didn't fail to seem like they belonged in the small world the girl no doubt lived in.

The scene was heart-warming, and Jaune nearly forgot about his woes watching, realizing how it was understandable Ruby might've not noticed him, and a small spark seemed to ignite in his chest at the thought. It quickly died out, however, when he turned to see the look of sadness, borderline despair, that was threatening the young woman with tears.

"R-Ruby? What's wrong?" The blonde hesitantly called out, dismayed at what could've happened to make her react the way she did.

"J-Jaune...I just...I-I have to make a call really quickly." The redhead managed to say, looking like a sob was trying to wrench its way from her throat. He didn't even finish his nod before the small Huntress-in-training ran off some ways before pulling out her scroll, fiddling with the small device for a bit before holding it up to her ear. She talked for a bit, and while she may have moved quite a distance away, he still caught snippets of what she was saying, despite his best intentions to turn the other way and not be a snoop.

Patch...it's late...cliffs...Mother.

The words bounced around in Jaune's head, his brain trying to form a picture with the few pieces he'd garnered. The process was quickly forgotten when the Arc felt his own scroll vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he was surprised to see it was Yang calling him. While he was sort of expecting a call from his date's older sister at some point in the day, he had stopped doing so when half the day had gone by without so much as a word from her. He managed to answer by the third ring.

"Hi there, Yang, what's up?"

"Jaune, I, uh...I need to ask you a favor."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. The blonde had been preparing himself for praise, encouragements, and promises that subtly imply emasculation should he touch or hurt Ruby.

"Yeah, anything, anything at all. What do you need?"

"Well...it's about Ruby...she's...not in a good place right now, Jaune."

"W-wow. I didn't think things were going so bad…" The Arc muttered, a bit put off by how blatant Yang was being and the fact that Ruby had called her older sister just to tell him the date hadn't been going well.

"Oh, I just realized how bad that sounded. It's not you, I swear! It's just...well, you were there. The whole train thing, it threw her off, shot her nerves to hell. I don't know about you guys, but most of us just kind shook it off, stopped thinking about it when the bruises disappeared. Ruby...she...she's, well, still a little kid in certain ways. Right now, she's thinking about a lot of things, and she always goes to one place when she has to clear her head. I've always known when Ruby would be in one of these kind of moods, and always took her there, but, seeing as how she's on a date...yeah. I'd like it if she waited until tomorrow, and so would our Dad, but she's not having any of it. Jaune, I need you to go with her. I know she's a big girl, can take care of herself, but I need someone to be there with her. I'd prefer it be me, obviously, but that's just not an option right now."

"I'll do it, I'll do it. Don't worry, Yang, I'm glad I can be here to do this for you. But, uh, where are we going exactly?"

"...It's her mother's grave."

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"Jaune...I really need to get going. The last bullhead to Patch leaves soon." The redhead whined, rubbing her arms as she squirmed in place, looking between the blonde and the direction the station was in.

"I know, Ruby, but this'll just be a minute." The blonde said, giving her a quick glance to make sure she wouldn't just dash off without him. Once he was certain she wouldn't, he put his scroll up to his ear and muttered praise and words full of gratitude for about a full minute before hanging up. Pocketing his scroll, he turned and gave the young woman a smile, and began drumming his hands on his pants.

"I don't have time for this!" Ruby wailed, turning on her heel, ready, for all intents and purposes, to dash off without Jaune. Well, she was, until a firm grip on her arm spun her around, where it then moved to her shoulder, with a second hand appearing not long after to assure the other shoulder wouldn't get lonely.

"Hey, don't forget, I'm here for you." The Knight explained, emphasizing the final word to get his point across. It must've been lost at some point during communication, though. Ruby shrugged his hand off her body, glaring venomously at him.

"I didn't ask for you to come along. I can take care of myself, and I'd hate to be a burden." With that, she turned her back on him, missing the look of confusion and shock on his face, and disappeared in a flurry of red rose petals.

"I...oh... Oh, Ruby." Jaune said aloud to no one, realization hitting him like a brick. Yang's words echoed through his head, and it dawned on him just how hurt his date really was. He nervously drummed his fingers along his pants, again, wondering if he could afford to wait a few more precious minutes. His answer came in the sound of a loud screech and an even louder, ground shaking, boom.

With a thankful nod to Ren, that the blonde knew the jade-clad boy would never see, Jaune ran forward and opened up his locker as quickly as he could. He put the neat stacks of 100 lien cards in his pocket, sheathed Crocea Mors on his hip, and nearly finished emptying the contents of his locker before hesitating as he reached for the final item left.

Jaune slowly shook his head before he grabbed it and turned on his heel, immediately taking off. He knew exactly where he was going, he just hoped he would make it in time.

"I'm here for you, Ruby."

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Prick: So guys, there is part 1! What did you think? Somehow, I found the lack of fluff disturbing, considering what we initially had planned for this story. But still, the real bonding shall occur in the future. Granted, we'll have most of that written when this chapter is released, so the only thing stopping the next one from coming out as soon as possible is a terminal lack of reviews. Think about it…

Fate: What? That's it? We were promised so much more.

Prick: Oh, shut your whore mouth, you're aware of what I'm planning. Don't feign ignorance in attempt to rally the readers. Follow, Favorite, Review people! Shoutouts are awesome!