Chapter Text
"There she is. I'm gonna go talk to her."
"Dude! Do you want to end up like that guy Jaune? I heard she absolutely laid into him in front of everyone in the cafe when he tried to hit on her last year."
"Come on, she can't be like that to everyone!"
"People call her the ice queen of Beacon, I don't even think I've seen her smile. Not once!"
When a third voice joined in the conversation, the two boys jumped and spun around to see that the voice belonged to a young girl in a red hood.
"Uhhhh, Weiss does smile". Ruby said with a confused look.
"You're that girl that's always hanging around Weiss!". One of the boys exclaimed.
"Well yeah, it would be weird if friends didn't hang out."
"You two are friends?"
While the boys were focused on Ruby they missed Weiss walking up to them.
"Are these people bothering you Ruby?". She asked.
"Oh no, they were just saying that they don't think they've ever seen you smile. And then I told them you do smile, and then they were asking if we were friends like it would be strange if we were."
"Of course we're friends Ruby, they just don't have the basic sense to mind their own business.". Weiss said, emphasizing the latter half of her sentence.
The two boys sheepishly bowed out of the conversation, receiving the message that Weiss wanted nothing to do with them.
"You still coming over to hang out?" Ruby asked after the boys were out of sight.
"Yes I am still coming over Ruby. Where are we meeting Yang and Blake?"
"They said they'd wait for us at the entrance!"
Weiss took a few steps down the hallway before turning back to see that Ruby hadn't moved from her spot. "Shall we?". Asked a slightly puzzled Weiss
"Oh. Right! Let's go.". Ruby said, breaking free of whatever thought kept her rooted in place.
Soon enough they reached the entrance of the school, Yang's mane of golden locks were easily seen from afar, getting closer they spotted Blake leaning against the wall reading her latest book.
"What's up guys!". Yang cheerily greeted them once they were close.
"Hello Yang, hello Blake.". Weiss greeted in return.
"Hey guys."
Weiss looked at Ruby with concern when she heard the gloomy tone her voice carried.
Of course being the big sister, Yang also took notice of this. "What's up Rubes, you seem a little down." Ruby just shrugged. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"It's just, those guys back there."
Weiss frowned, "They were bothering you!"
"No, no, it's nothing like that. But, they seemed surprised when I told them that Weiss and I were friends. Other people have the same reaction too, like we're not supposed to be friends or something.".
Yang cocked her head in confusion, "That is a little weird, I thought everyone assumed you two were friends. I mean you're practically joined at the hip, especially this year. I mean you two share more classes than you did our first year, all but one and the one is band!"
Blake shut her book, "It's because it's so unlikely that Weiss would be friends with us."
Weiss crossed her arms, "Unlikely? Who cares if it's unlikely, I choose who my friends are and everyone else should mind their own business."
Ruby and Yang just looked even more confused.
"What I mean by that, is Weiss is the heiress to the SDC, which is the modern equivalent to a literal princess."
Yang snickered, "Well she certainly acts like one sometimes."
"Hey!". Weiss scowled.
"Yeah, don't be mean to Weiss.". Ruby declared, defending her silver haired friend.
"Anyway, it's just that some people have it in their heads that no way could Weiss actually be friends with two weirdos from patch,"
"Hey!". Ruby and Yang said in unison before giggling.
",And the mysterious bookworm from across the sea. What I'm trying to say is that a majority of people have already passed their judgment of you long before you even speak to them. Don't take it too hard, Ruby, those people just don't have an open mind.". Blake offered Ruby a small smile after her explanation.
Ruby smiled back, "I guess you're right. Besides I shouldn't care what they say, I'm not friends with them, I'm friends with you guys!"
Yang's eyes shifted around, "uhhh, we're not friends,"
Ruby waved her off, "Yeah, yeah, we're sisters."
Yang deflated when Ruby didn't react the way she wanted.
"Well said, we're all friends and other people don't have to understand that. Shall we get going?". Weiss said, gesturing toward Ruby and Yang's home with her head.
"Yeah let's go!" Ruby cheered and thus, the four girls began their almost daily walk from school to the Xiao Long residence. Sure Weiss could have them all driven there but walking together with her friends had a certain appeal to her as she never experienced any of this before Ruby, Yang, and Blake became a part of her life.
"So gang! What's on the hang out agenda today!?". Ruby asked.
Yang lit up, "Oh! We could-"
"Our dear Yang actually has to study for her biology test, considering she scored at fifty-seven percent on the first test."
Yang deflated, "Oh…"
"Oh don't pout you big baby I'll be helping you study."
"Oh, thanks Blake! Looks like you gotta make do with just the princess today, Rubes."
Weiss just rolled her eyes at Yang's use of the princess moniker.
"Oh, well you two have fun studying, Yang behave and actually study, we can't have you failing a class.". Ruby said, causing Yang to pout and Weiss to giggle.
"What would you like to do today Ruby?" When Ruby turned and smiled at her, Weiss blushed.
"Whatever you want!"
"O-oh,". Weiss cleared her throat, "How about a movie? You get to pick though."
Yang raised a brow at the interaction and looked at Blake, silently asking her if she was seeing this too. Blake just nodded and continued to watch the red and white duo.
Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Why do you always let me pick? You can pick once and a while."
Weiss sighed, "The correct phrase is once in awhile, but to answer your question, I've only seen the movies you three have shown me. I don't have any other experience with movies."
Ruby looked down at her feet, "Right… sometimes I forget that you didn't have the… greatest childhood."
Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulder, "Hey! That's what we're here for, ain't it?”
“Yeah! You can do all the things you missed out on while you were in Atlas!”, Ruby paused for a second, “Well, I guess not all the things. It doesn’t really snow here so you can’t do any snow related things yet.”
“I appreciate the gesture. It wasn’t all that bad before I moved here, and now I’ve made friends with you guys.” Weiss said with a small smile.
“I don’t think I’ve ever asked why you moved here, when I think about it.” Yang thought aloud before sending Weiss a curious glance.
The smile that sat on Weiss’ face vanished as she hung her head. “Oh… I’m sorry Yang, I..”
When Weiss suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder she looked up to see Yang in front of her with a tender smile. “Hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. We’re here if you ever want to talk, seriously.” Weiss looked to see matching expressions on Ruby and Blake’s faces and they nodded as well when Yang offered an ear to lend her.
“Thank you, I know I can be cold,”
“You’ve gotten better.” Yang jabbed in order to lighten the mood.
“But I’m here for you guys too, if you need anything just let me know.”
The four girls smiled at each other knowing that they had each other's backs. They walked down the path leading to the front door of Yang and Ruby’s house. Yang unlocked the door and the girls filed into the comfy abode.
“Well you two have fun with your movie, I’m going to get Yang ready for the test.”
Yang threw her head back and gripped her shirt near her heart. “Go on and have fun without me Ruby.” She said dramatically. “Hopefully, *gulp*, I make it out alive.”
Ruby playfully saluted her sister before walking up the stairs with Weiss in tow. Blake and Yang made their way into the living room to begin studying.
"Did you see Weiss today?". Yang asked as she threw herself at the couch.
Blake smirked, "Oh my gods, yes. Ruby flashes a smile at her and she's smitten."
"I'm surprised Ruby hasn't noticed it yet.". Yang paused before she gasped. "Blake, what if they're dating in secret!?". Yang whisper-screamed.
Blake waved off Yang's concerns, "No offense to Ruby, but she cannot keep a secret from you. She physically cannot lie to you or your dad, honestly that probably extends to me and Weiss by now."
"But that's only when she's directly asked by one of us!"
"I guess that's true, although I don't think we should ask her directly. What if she hasn't noticed? Maybe we should ask Weiss?". Blake replied.
Yang shot up, "That's perfect! I can give Weiss a talking to in case she actually does have a crush and plans to do something about it."
"Actually, I think we should just let them do their thing, it's not that serious. If it seems like they're both interested then you can talk to Weiss."
Yang pouted, "Fine."
Meanwhile upstairs, Ruby was getting everything set up to watch a movie.
"You okay with watching an animated movie?". Ruby looked over to her bed where Weiss had made herself comfortable.
"Animated? Like a cartoon?"
Ruby smiled as she pulled out a DVD from her shelf. "Well, I guess yeah you're not wrong. I swear you'll like it, it's got a good story and isn't just silly like cartoons.". Ruby placed her laptop at the foot of the bed then inserted the disk. As soon as images began playing on screen she scampered to the opposite side of the bed to get settled next to Weiss.
"So what's this movie called?". Weiss asked as her red clad sat flush against her, causing a small blush to rise to her cheeks.
"It's a Studio Ghibli film titled Spirited Away. It's one of my all time favorites."
Ruby's hood was off and Weiss could smell the strawberry scented shampoo Ruby used. The fruity smell mixed with the floral scent of Roses that Ruby seemed to carry with her everywhere was intoxicating.
"I'm looking forward to seeing it then, if it's one of your favorites."
///
"So, did you like it?". Ruby asked excitedly.
Weiss blushed as she was reminded of just how close they were, as she was met with Ruby's silver irises when she turned to answer. She took a moment to gaze into them for a moment while she composed herself and formulated an answer.
"It was very good. You were right, technically a cartoon but not really the same. Plus the soundtrack was phenomenal, paired with the emotions that can't normally be portrayed by real people."
The depth of her answer caused Ruby's eyes to sparkle as she dove into raving about different parts she enjoyed. Weiss only slightly paid attention as she found herself mesmerized by the sparkle in the younger girl's eyes as she talked.
“Weiss?” Ruby asked, “You okay? You look kind of spaced out.”
Weiss blushed at being caught staring at the younger girl. “Ah, yes sorry, I was distracted but what should we do now?”
“We could watch another movie if you have time? Unless you need to go home soon, we could go downstairs and see what Yang and Blake are up to.”
Weiss weighed her options. She should be on her way home within the next hour so a movie was out of the question but she wanted to be greedy for Ruby’s company a little longer. “I don’t think I have enough time to watch a whole movie but maybe we could just watch some videos or something?”
Ruby smiled at the suggestion, pulling out her scroll she leaned back against the wall and let her head fall onto Weiss’ shoulder. “Alright, funny videos it is!”
With their new seating arrangement, Weiss was glad she elected to stay upstairs with Ruby. She wasn’t dense, she knew she was developing quite the crush on her friend, but she also wasn’t so bold as to make a move on the younger girl. She was simply content to enjoy the relationship she currently had with Ruby for the moment. If her feelings developed into something more, Weiss supposed she would then have to do something about it, but for now she looked at the bubbly girl beside her and decided that this right here was very nice.