Blake grinned to herself as she looked at the cup on top of the table. Perhaps christmas wasn't something very important to her as it was to other people, but she had to agree that some things tasted better around this time of year. And most definitely one of those things was eggnog.

Of course being in the academy, there were some issues she had with this. While getting most of the ingredients wasn't that much of a hassle, one of them did prove difficult to get. That was the rum she loved to use as the alcoholic base. She wasn't a drinker, by no means would she enjoy it without the other things that went into her favorite christmas drink. But without this important ingredient it would be so plain for her.

Blake was sneaky, and she opted to pour the rum into a water bottle she earlier emptied. And just in case, she bought an identical water bottle, so if anyone wanted some water and she had to act upon borrowing someone her bottle. Because you always had to be one step ahead of your enemy, just like in chess.

In addition, she could enjoy it in peace and quiet. Yang was being moody lately, or rather for the past few days, and as such Weiss took it upon herself to try and cheer her up. A bit confusing matter, but Blake didn't pry into their lives. Never do what you do not wish to happen upon yourself.

Actually most of the academy was either already gone due to the holiday season, or just visiting the town since a lot of christmasy attraction were to be seen. Presents to be bought or it's way more entertaining to hang out around the city than to stay at the academy. As such the entire cafeteria was empty, with just her inside of it.

Now what to do with all this sweet sweet solitude. Perhaps a book to go with it? Or some music? Although the radio at this time of the year could go overboard with the christmasy tunes. So book it was. Book and eggnog.

The catgirl eyed the cup, as if savouring the sole presence of it in the big room, like a visual foreplay before the actual good stuff would happen. This was how such pleasantries were to be enjoyed. Slowly and with time. Build up was very important. Dust bless that nobody knew how weird she could get about something as simple as holiday beverage.

Her serene bubble bursted suddenly as Ruby opened the door and dashed towards her. "Hey Blake! Oh my gosh, is that eggnog?! I love eggnog!" And before Blake could even greet her, answer her question, or react, the cup with her beloved drink was snatched off the table by the redhead.

The catgirl could only reach out towards Ruby, her faunus eyes filled with desperation as the sadness of her loss choked her to the point of not even being able to make any verbal comment to stop the redhead, to perhaps save some of the drink.

"Uh, tastes a tiny bit different then I remember back home, I guess you make it differently huh?" The redhead announced as she grinned, wiping off her mouth with the sleeve of her dress. "Uh? Blake? Did something happen? You look like someone ran over a puppy." And then realization hit her, as Ruby's eyes went wide. "Oh no! I drank your eggnog didn't I? I'm so sorry Blake! I just love it soo much! And I love christmas and everything about it and whenever I see the first signs of it I go crazy and I just can't control myself! I'm so sorry, please don't hate me!"

At the barrage of words, the catgirl winced. She shook her head and sighed. No need to be overly dramatic, she can always make more. Still plenty of rum, and the rest shouldn't be that hard to get. Blake smiled at the girl. "That's okay Ruby, really, I can always make more." The faunus girl blinked. She forgot, the rum. Ruby was still young, and rum isn't exactly your cheap beer that girls her age enjoy if they decide to go all rebellious and drink alcohol.

"Ruby are...I mean, you do feel okay after it, right? I'm just asking since... I'm not sure if you enjoyed my recipe." Blake smiled, she couldn't just approach her directly about it. Just in case she talks about it. Yang could get upset, she is afterall very protective of her younger sister.

"Not anymore, since you're not mad." Ruby grinned as she sat down next to Blake. "Well, a bit warm, but I guess that's from embarrassment over my stupid mistake. I'm really sorry Blake." The girl smiled sheepishly.

Blake rolled her eyes, but her smile lingered. "That's alright, Ruby." Perhaps Ruby did drink her eggnog with alcohol before, after all it's not like you drink it to get hammered, and the other ingredients can easily water the effect down, so to speak.

"So why are you around here? Shouldn't you be out with someone?" Blake inquired, as she tilted her head. It just occurred to her that the redhead stayed behind. While it's true that Weiss and Yang were busy, Ruby still was close friends with the team next door. At least Jaune.

"I actually was with someone earlier, but they left to go to beacon, so after that I did a little bit of maintenance since my sweetheart requires extra care at this time of season, and now it's a bit too late to seek company to go out to beacon. Not to mention that it really would be pointless, it's like fly there, stay for a bit, and fly back." The redhead explained with the usual amount of energy.

"I see." Was all Blake could muster at such expensive explanation of the situation that her team leader had been in. Was it because of her earlier expectations to be alone, or was Ruby more chatty. Not by a lot, but she spent enough time with the girl to notice that perhaps there was a tiny bit more than usual. Or was she simply lonely due to it just being her and herself only while working on that monstrous scythe of hers.

"What about you, Blake? Why aren't you out with someone? Sun? Or Velvet?" Blake opened her mouth to answer, but closed her afterwards. She blushed at the thought. She didn't want to be known as some eggnog crazed person. That she wanted to enjoy it in solitude.

Additionally, both of those could potentially make Ruby sad. First of all she hogged down the entire drink herself, second of all, she kind of ruined the solitude, since it required for Blake to be alone to ... Well, be alone.

"Why did you just mention Sun and Velvet? Because they are faunus?" Blake raised an eyebrow. She might as well deflect the question in a different direction.

"I...Well, no... Yes." The redhead rubbed her neck. "I mean, not because faunus should just stick with faunus people! But you kind of don't really spend time with anyone else and I know Sun likes you and I know that like, Velvet is kind of like well, she's nice and all so I thought that... I'm Sorry Blake." The girl sighed.

The faunus bit her lower lip, while she wanted to distract her from her own question, she didn't mean to upset the girl. "Hey, Ruby, that's alright. I was merely curious. You are right, I don't really spend much time with anyone outside of you guys. And Sun sometimes does bug me." Blake didn't enjoy that much of intimacy shared between herself and others, but she knew the power it could have. As such she placed a single hand on the other girls' shoulder.

Ruby smiled at that, nodding. "I'm the worst today, first I steal your stuff and drink it, and then I ask wrong questions." The redhead sighed.

"Ruby, that's alright." Distraction, Blake needed a distraction for the girl. She eyed the empty cup. That's right, christmas. "So when are you and Yang going back home? I bet your family is heavily into tradition, and that requires plenty of time to prepare." This should provide with enough distraction, and Ruby's talking is a pleasant white noise, especially when she's into something. Like christmas.

"We don't know if we're be going to. Not that we don't want to, but Dad isn't sure if he'll make it. And spending it at the house without him, we'll just miss him and... You know, it's not the same. Besides, we can spend it here. And since you're not leaving, we could hang out with you." Ruby smiled, although this time it was a bit on the sad side.

"He seems like he's busy a lot." Blake felt bothered by the fact that the girl had even a spark of sadness inside her. It wasn't anything weird for the faunus to feel bad whenever her friends were sad. That was normal. But with Ruby? With Ruby it was a tiny bit different. Her team leader was an idealistic optimist. A cheerful girl full of energy. So whenever she was sad, it was as if something wasn't right in the universe.

"He is, Yang sometimes gets annoyed and says it's because what happened to her mom and ... Well, my mom. But I don't think that's right. I just think Yang's sadness speaks for her." Ruby nodded at her own words. "I believe that our dad just trusts that me and Yang can take care of each other, and he wants to help other people. Because he's a hunter, he does what hunter can do, and kills grimm." There was another nod from the girl.

Blake wasn't sure if the girl tried to convince herself, or excuse her sister or perhaps both. She wasn't sure about the details of Ruby's family situation, while Yang explained some of it, there were still details she didn't ask about that could shine light on the situation for the faunus.

"Does that mean that Yang can cook? Or were you two living off instant food." Blake raised a brow. She was partially curious, and partially wanted to once more try to draw attention from the sad topics. This has proven to be mighty difficult so far.

"Sure she can! I mean, you know, the normal stuff. We never did anything fancy, we didn't have the money for it. Besides, simple dishes are best dishes. Around christmas dad's around so they do things together." Ruby's smile once more turned into a cheerful one. Something that Blake was glad for.

"Does she get... Angry? You know, Yang angry... Yangry." Blake giggled at her own pun.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Ugh, Blake you spend too much time with her! That was horrible." She playfully pushed the catgirl, getting another giggle out of the faunus. "Aaand... Well, yeah, she can. But rarely. And nowadays almost never. But she did get angry once or twice. It was weird to see someone squish content of a can like its a sliced lemon, let me tell you that much."

Both girls shared a laugh at the mental image of Yang, with her hair on fire, red eyes filled with fury and while wearing a cooking apron while squishing a can till it popped open.

"I can believe that, yeah." Blake nodded with a smile. Perhaps solitude isn't always the best thing. And while chatty, it never was boring to talk to Ruby. Mostly listen to the redhead, since she was able to produce more words than Blake. Still, it counted.

"How about you Blake? How's things at christmas at your house?" Ruby asked with a bright smile. But even that couldn't help once the faunus girl's mind was flooded with past memories, and not the good kind of memories. As she quite visibly deflated, her cheery mood gone in an instant.

"I... I don't want to talk about that, Ruby." Was her only response, as she looked away from her team leader.

"O-Oh, Blake! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ask anything bad." Suddenly the catgirl felt the other girl press herself against her, as she could feel the redhead's arms around her waist.

The warm feeling of another being did distract the catgirl from her thoughts. Blake enjoyed her personal space, but she got used to having it often disturbed by Yang or Ruby. Weiss seemed to respect that a bit more. Still, she got tamed to the idea of random showcases of physical intimacy.

A smile erupted on the faunus girl's lips as she wrapped one arm around the girl. "It's alright Ruby, you didn't know." She said as she rubbed the girl's back reassuringly.

While she wasn't trying to feel bad, the hug did take a bit too long for her own liking. Longer than her usual hugs. Was Ruby still bothered by all the things she did? "Ruby? Are... Are you alright?" Blake asked as she peered down at the redhead.

"Blake? Do you know you're my favorite faunus?" The girl mumbled as she kept her face almost fully pressured against the catgirl's vest.

The black haired girl blinked at that. Of course her first instinct was to get defensive about this. But that thought vanished at an instant, since it was Ruby she was dealing with. And the girl could never be in any form dishonest about the true nature of her question. She was just curious, and perhaps was trying to make a compliment towards her... Still, a very strange question even for Ruby.

"I... Why do you ask... Or tell me this, Ruby?" Blake squinted her eyes, not sure what kind of answer she expected, and this, as any kind of unknown, made her dread the answer she might receive.

"I dunno, I just feel weird and like I want to be extra honest with you, Blake." The catgirl inhaled at that. Redlight, redlight! So the rum did affect her, this is slightly bad. Did she add this much rum? Or was Ruby such a lightweight... Or both? Ugh.

"R-Right, Hey Ruby? How about you go back to our room? If you're feeling weird maybe you just need to lay down." Blake offered with a friendly smile. She had to simply convince Ruby to go to their room and for her to lay down and fall asleep. And nothing bad would come off this. Perhaps a slight headache for the redhead later. Perhaps, hopefully not. But you never know.

The redhead looked up at Blake with sad eyes. "Is it because you hate me now, Blake?" The girl asked sadly.

"No Ruby, I'm simply worried about your health. How about I go with you, so you can be sure I don't hate you." The catgirl offered with a smile.

"'Kay!" Ruby's response was immediately filtered of any sadness it previously had. Blake sighed at that. Was Ruby a moody drinker? Worst kind, if you ask her.

And then a moment passed, and another and another. Blake finally raised a brow. "Ruby? You know that you have to let go of me if we're going to go, right?"

"I don't want to." Came her stubborn response.

"But... Ruby, we agreed we'd go to our room." The catgirl frowned at that.

"Carry me." Once more, a simple response came from the redhead. Although this time it surprised the faunus.

"W-What? Carry you? Ruby, what are you talking about." Blake attempted to push the girl away. Sadly, she didn't want to be too forceful with her attempts, as she didn't want to truly hurt the girl, either physically or emotionally. And while she was drunk, she clung to the faunus as if her life depended on it.

"Ruby, come on, stop joking around." With a few more tries, The catgirl gave up at her attempts to pry herself free from the clingy redhead.

"I'm not joking, carry me." The girl repeated.

Blake grimaced at that. She could continue her fruitless task of her half measures to get the girl off her. She could actually attempt with full force and upset Ruby. Or just go with it. She did get her drunk, even if by accident.

"Fine Ruby, I'll carry you." The faunus sighed in defeat.

"Yay! Free ride." The younger girl clung to Blake a bit more. "Let's go!"

"Right." Was the only response that the catgirl offered, as she looked at the clinging girl, mulling over how to make this work. She opted for something, as she wrapped her arms around the girl and slowly stood up.

She was actually surprised to feel the girl being quite light. She was smaller, but to be this light? Or was Blake growing stronger... Huh, a weird thought. She didn't feel that much stronger since she came to Beacon.

While such thoughts lingered inside her head, she began to carry the girl through the halls of the academy. It would be both embarrassing and troubling if someone saw them. Since people could assume something happened. Either something bad or... Or something good, or at least some folks would think it was good. Blake shook her head as such thoughts entered her mind.

Lucky, nobody was around, and the catgirl was glad she was slowly approaching their room. While the redhead wasn't heavy, it was still awkward to carry her like that, and as such she was getting a tiny bit tired, or rather her arms and hands were getting tired of holding the girl.

It took her a moment to open the door, since she doubted the girl would let go. And as she entered inside, she decided the best course of action was to just lay the girl on one of the lower beds. Asking her could provide for the girl to become stubborn over something, and Blake had enough of stubborn Ruby. May she avoid alcohol from this day onward.

As Blake laid the girl down, she felt her arms still cling to her. "Ruby? We're here, you can let go."

"I don't want you to go, lay down with me, please? Blake?" The faunus blinked at that. This was crossing the line by... Too much.

"Ruby no, I won't lay down with you. Now please, let go of me." Blake attempted to once more pry herself free of the girl, this time a bit more forceful.

"S-So it's true, you hate me. You just wanted to take me here and then go away. And you'll hate me, and it'll mean our team will do horribly and everyone will know I'm a horrible team leader and...and..." Ruby spoke, as tears started to gather at the corners of her eyes.

Blake was... shocked, by the level of emotional disturbance of her team leader. "N-No, no! Ruby, ugh. Fine, I'll lay down with you. But please, calm down."

"Y-You don't have to Blake, I don't want to force you." Came Ruby's sad response. At this point Blake had to take a deep breath to calm herself. She now knew how Weiss felt at the first moments of knowing this girl.

"It's alright Ruby, I want to lay down with you." She said slowly and calmly, to mask her own annoyance.

"Yay!" The redhead immediately cheered up, as she slowly made some space for Blake to lay down, although never letting go of her. You'd think her arms would get tired at some point.

Blake laid down next to Ruby, the younger girl making enough room for both of them to lay down. The catgirl couldn't help but blush at the thought. If Yang and Weiss came back now, she'd be in trouble.

Still, she had to wait for the girl to get sleepy, and then just leave her to her drunk nap. Hopefully Ruby didn't had too much energy left. It's quite troublesome how clingy and emotional this girl can get over a little drink. While she did joke about it earlier, Blake was honestly thinking that it would be better for her team's leader to avoid any contact with any kind of alcoholic beverages.

"Hey Blake? Could I pet your ears? I mean, I just kind of like your ears. I know I didn't seen them for long, but you did show them and I thought they are pretty cool. It's kind of disappointing you keep them covered like that, but I understand, I think you shouldn't be ashamed of it, but still it's your choice. And um, since we're alone I thought you wouldn't mind if I did. Please? Pretty please?"

The catgirl bit her lower lip at that. It wasn't something she wasn't used to. Not that it happened to often. Even among faunus it wasn't that rare to ask when someone had some cute animal trait like that. Still, when humans asked, it was... Awkward. She felt like they treated her like a pet.

Then again, it was Ruby. Would she really treat her like that? Like she was lesser? Blake didn't think so. If anything, she might have just honestly think it was an asset that improved her, it being cool as she called it. Besides, maybe it'll calm her down and she'll fall asleep. Hopefully.

"Alright, Ruby. But just this time. And d-don't mention it to the others, alright?" Once more Blake let out a tired sigh. This was almost like visiting a bar with someone. Were gods punishing her for bringing alcohol to the school ground. Still, she reached towards the bow and slowly untied it, revealing her ears.

"Oooh..." Ruby's voice came out in full amazement as the catgirl noticed her staring up at the top of her head with those silver eyes. Blake wasn't sure why she was still playing along. Was it guilt over the fact it was her fault the redhead was as she was? Or was it because she just was tired and couldn't handle the stubborn girl and her antics at this moment.

She felt Ruby's hands move up, and Blake closed her eyes. She hated how people treated her ears. It wasn't painful, just annoying. Well, it wasn't painful most of the time. Some folks had no idea how to handle her delicate faunus trait.

And the catgirl expected just that, annoyance, perhaps a few painful gestures. But none of that came, and it surprised the older girl. Instead she felt Ruby's finger gently rub and brush her ears, which felt... Pleasant. It actually helped her with all the annoyance she felt from all the previous antics of the younger girl. To the point of even allowing herself to relax a bit.

As the redhead continued to play with her ears, it did occur to the owner of said ears why her friend had such a good hands for them. Well, potentially why, she could never be sure. But the answer, at least the potential answer, was quite simple. It's because of that hellhound beast she owns, Zwai? Zwei? Whatever it's name is, she was sure if she said it three times in a dark bathroom with a mirror, the beast would jump off and eat her soul.

These thoughts didn't linger for too long, since Blake was feeling too nice from the ear rubs. She had to keep herself from releasing a soft yawn, the plan was to wait for Ruby to fall asleep, not for herself to take a nap.

Her serene mood got broken once she felt something against her neck. As she opened her eyes, she saw Ruby nuzzle into her neck. "R-Ruby? What... What are you doing?"

The redhead didn't give any kind of verbal answer, instead she began to softly kiss the skin along Blake's neck. That made the catgirl grow stiff. Was Ruby kissing her? Why? Was this part of her petting routine? Impossible, or very gross if that was the case. Is it something Ruby did normally when she... cuddled with someone? This was cuddling, correct? What if someone came now, and saw Ruby kiss her along her neck.

As the catgirl's brain attempted to comprehend the situation, Ruby moved along the catgirl's neck. Her lips kissing and nipping at the skin. At one point her lips reached those of the faunus girl, and she planted a gentle kiss against them.

That made Blake's mind freeze. It was a peck and nothing more, but... But it was a kiss nevertheless. The younger girl murmured something that the catgirl didn't catch, and nuzzled against the faunus. Soon her breath grew calm.

That didn't stop the turmoil that happened inside Blake's mind. It had to be because she was drunk, cuddly, clingy and all that. It had to be. It means nothing, she won't even remember any of this. The catgirl took a deep breath to calm herself. She gently untied herself from Ruby's embrace and sat up on the bed.

Speaking of drinking, she sure could use one now. No, really, she could, as she felt her mouth grow incredibly dry. And earlier she hoped to clench her thirst with the eggnog, which was snatched. Blake wasn't even sure how much time passed.

Still, it wasn't important, as she stood up and stretched, she moved towards her bag to take out the remaining bottle inside, the one with water that was her fail save in case someone approached her about the two bottle.

What a day, she still wanted to make herself some eggnog and enjoy at least one cup before going to bed today. Blake smiled at that, as she opened the bottle and tilted it to let its content pour itself inside her mouth.

And it was at that moment she almost spited the entire thing out. This wasn't water! This was the rum, ugh. How horrible it tasted inside her mouth. The catgirl forced herself to push the small amount of it down her throat.

That means the other bottle, the one she used to make the eggnog was water. Goodness gracious, good thing she didn't drink that, it would feel awful all watered down and everything.

And then the realization hit her, as she slowly turned around to look at the sleeping redhead. Ruby wasn't drunk. Through this entire thing, she wasn't drunk.

The realization send a cold shiver down her spine, as she closed the bottle and put it back inside her bag. Yet the dreadful feeling lasted for no more than a moment, as soon a smile grew on the catgirls lips.

She shook her head, she still had some eggnog to make. And as she was leaving the room, she once more glanced over at the sleeping redhead.

And perhaps this time make two cups.

Author's note:

This is my Ladybug christmas story, or at least a ladybug story I wrote for the sake of it being the christmas season.

Theme for this story was mischief, which for some reason I kind of relate to christmas, but that's perhaps due to me not being a native english speaking person. But mischief did stick as this christmas thing for me, for whatever reason.

Another thing, this was my attempt at making a story where Ruby isn't just plainly innocent or childish. And I'm not saying people write her this way, I just wanted to say that I tried to get away from that image that some folks have about her, while not really making her seem too ooc.

So put two and two together, and this idea came to me.

So if you read this far, I wanted to wish you a happy holiday, merry christmas and a happy new year. It doesn't matter if you celebrate christmas or not, I hope you have a splendid time now, and in the upcoming year.