Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ruby stood stock-still, eyes wide, fingers trembling, as stranger after stranger shoved past her in disinterest. “There's a whooole lot of people here, Yang.”

Yang hesitated, confused, then wrapped her arms around her sister protectively, comfortingly. “I know.” The airport corridor was packed, every square meter occupied, every seat taken, and even the ever-clubbing Yang was made a bit uncomfortable by the crowd.

“There are like fifteen alphas in this room.”

Yang flinched. “Jesus, Ruby. Explains why you've been so on-edge today. You... knew? Before we got here, I mean.”

Ruby nodded slowly, ever-so-subtly relaxing into her sister's arms. “Did you know that one in ten Hunters is an Alpha? I did my research, Yang. I tried to prepare, but we got here and it just...”

“Yeah.” Yang would've usually let Ruby squirm out of her arms by this point, but then, Ruby still hadn't moved a muscle. She loosened her grip, giving Ruby's chronically abused ribs some slight reprieve, but didn't let go.

“A-and one in ten like me too, apparently, though that's not really the issue, you know? Sorry, sorry, that was completely off-topic and not relevant at all, but it felt weird not to... Sorry.” Finally, Ruby struggled lightly against her restraints, unable to hide her embarrassment behind overblown, full-body gestures while being smothered.

Yang chuckled at her sister's familiar rambling, then let go, ruffling her hair on the way out (and prompting a relievingly familiar indignant squeal). “That's more like the Ruby that was ready to explode her way into Huntress-ing just this morning. Right!” Yang clapped her hands together, the sudden noise causing a few passersby to flinch, and grinned conspiratorially. “We're gonna find you some friends!” She made a show of scanning the room.

“Yaang! Stop that! I'll find friends just fine, promise! And you'll just try to match-make me with everyone in the room, anyway,” Ruby pouted, refusing to meet her sister's eyes as her smirk grew even wider.

“Oh, psshaw, only the ones you make eyes at first. Which, you know, all of 'em.” Ruby's eyes widened in a different kind of horror. “Yes, Ruby, I know. I've been watching you for fifteen years" - She puffed out her chest - “And nothing escapes my sisterly intuition! Hmm, who to interrogate first...”

Ruby gave in first, failing to contain a soft twitch of her lips as she shook her head begrudgingly. “Best wingwoman Yang, back at it again.” For the first time, she properly scanned the hall – not just for pheromones, but with her eyes, on her tiptoes, jumping about to get a better look past obstacles like a normal person. “Ooh, how about her? She's cute!”

Yang followed her pointed finger to a curly-black-haired girl in the corner, face half-buried in an old, leather-bound tome straight out of a colonial Mantle period piece. “Comfortable but sufficiently stylish – loving that black jeans 'n crop combo – and with enough focus to read something that boring-looking in a crowd... Well, tuning out Ruby's rambling is definitely a useful life skill...” Yang nodded imperiously, ignoring her sister's halfhearted denial of such. “I approve. Good pick. … Well? Go get her!”

Ruby blinked, flushing, then grinned wide and disappeared in a flash of rose petals. A sting of unexpected but familiar jealousy curled in Yang's stomach, but practicedly ignored it. She told herself she was used to it, that she needed to move on anyway, and so she pretended she had.

Yang watched from afar as Ruby's accompanying back-draft drew the girl's attention just enough to close the book, one finger still slipped between the pages, and glance up questioningly. Ruby chattered excitedly for a few seconds and held out her hand to shake, then blinked, sighed, backed away wearily, hand falling to her side. The girl quirked her head curiously, never saying a word as Ruby dejectedly shuffled back over.

“Aaaaaaahyaaang she's one of theeeeeeeemmmmmmm!” Ruby fell dramatically against Yang, halfheartedly pounding on her shoulders with unclenched fists.

“Ya know, Rubes, you're gonna have to get used to it some day, right? And you handled it better than you usually do, at least! Remember the platinum blonde from earlier?”

Ruby shuddered, recalling her supreme embarrassment at getting just a sniff of the hoity-toity, stuck-up princess and locking up, before getting yelled at for mussing up her baggage. And when it was her fault! Pheromones of that strength were a deadly weapon to be pointed only at your target, not broadcast about all obnoxious like that, thank you very much! “Yeah, 'least this one didn't say anything mean. Or... Anything.” She buried her face in her hands, groaning. “Uuugh and she seemed so cool, too!”

“Want me to go and smooth things over?”

“I'm tempted, but no, I think I'm just gonna make a hasty, tactical retreat to the food court, if that's okay with you. Ohhh and here she comes I gotta gooooo--” The girl, book still in hand, quirked an eyebrow at the now-disappeared sister.

“She's... bad with alphas. You know how it is.” She stuck out a hand. “Yang.”

“Blake. Belladonna. And, nice to make your acquaintance, but... What?” She blinked in confusion. “Is it really that bad for them? My omega friends have never even mentioned it.”

“Not all of them, and not always, but Ruby's a special case. Not a lot of exposure, and of course it's ten times worse with crushes.” Yang chuckled awkwardly, and Blake's eyes widened in sudden half-understanding.

“I haven't said a word to her yet, how can she...?”

Yang shrugged. “She falls fast. And hard. Aaaand you're pretty hot, so. Good luck? I gotta go find her, and a snack, but honestly I'd love to see her reaction if you came with?”

Blake simply stared in bemusement. “Okay.” She slipped an obviously well-loved bookmark in place and followed.

When they found Ruby, she seemed to be deep in thought, and simultaneously face-deep in the most overstuffed burrito Yang had ever seen. It was quite the impressive feat, she decided, as she slipped into the booth across from her, Blake carefully setting loaded trays on the table shortly behind. Soon enough, Ruby was pulled from her trance and stared at Yang, terror writ clear across her face. “Yang, what did you do?”

“Lured your crush-at-first-sight with the promise of free airport seafood? Honestly, Rubes, the things I do for my poor, ungrateful sister.” Yang waggled a greasy fork at her, and she sputtered indignantly.

Blake pushed a hand over the table, curling it over Ruby's own as she leaned forward. “Hey, don't worry about it. We all have rough starts sometimes, especially when... instincts kick in.” Yang raised an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting, preferring to soak contentedly in the glory of a plan coming together as Ruby's face flushed bright pink and she yanked her hand back. Ruby glared at Yang. “And you told her that!?”

A pang of guilt. “Er... Yes? But she was cool, she gets it!”

“Not often enough, no,” Blake quipped under her breath, and Yang let out a sharp, shocked laugh.

Ruby, mortified, sank dejectedly into the thankfully heavily-cushioned seat. Another pout. Yang grinned softly, watching Blake's face flush up just a bit, exposed for the first time to Ruby's legendary pouts and realizing what she'd just said and. She blinked, expression schooled to blankness. “Right, well,” and she started shoveling the shrimp-on-noodles into her mouth, eyes trained down to her plate and blush growing all the while. Ruby saw fit to follow in turn, and Yang observed their impromptu mating display with avid curiosity.

Thirty seconds and two bites of Yang's hamburger later, the lovebirds' plates had been licked clean and Ruby was back to her mumbling. “So it was real nice meeting you you seem pretty cool and oh ugh ow I shouldn't've eaten so fast can we start as friends? Please? I'm just so bad at the whole dating thing and I don't really know you and also you don't know me, yet! Yet, but I'd really like to get to kn--”

Blake shut her up by grabbing her hand again, her gaze remaining averted. “Yes, I'd love that.”

Ruby blinked in surprise. “D-do you have a scroll?”

Yang whistled conspicuously as Blake passed it over, Ruby punching in her number twice (her nerves had jumbled it all up the first time) and passing it back, still failing to make eye contact. “Jeez, do I need to call a hotel?”

“As friends, Yang! Did you not just hear what-- Uugh! THE worst!” Ruby threw her hands up in the air and stormed off.

“Twenty lien she breaks in under a week.”

“No deal. It was... Yang, right? Rose?”

“Nah – Xiao Long - but good guess. Different moms, don't worry about it.” Yang glanced away. “Um, so, I am cool with you and Ruby and all, but do try and use protection, she'd be devastated to be out of action for any considerable length of--”

“Okay, nope. No, not doing this, I literally just met both of you, not doing it!” Blake swiped her dishes from the table, unceremoniously plopping them down on the designated “used” counter, and swung her bag over her shoulder as she rushed in the opposite direction from where Ruby had gone.

When Yang found Ruby ten minutes later, she was once again standing petrified at the edge of the walkway, staring at her scroll in an unfamiliar combination of awe, embarrassment, excitement, and shock. Wide-eyed, she turned up to Yang, tilting her scroll to give her a better view.

I very much look forward to making your acquaintance. For the record, I think you're pretty cute too. -B

“Right. Um. So, sleeping arrangements, huh?”

The team of four stood outside their dorm room, looking over the four beds squished up against each other in a row. Their, plural, as in all four of them, as in she'd be living in the same room as two hormonal, unbearably attractive alphas. This'll be a nightmare, she silently opined.

Yang, leaning in the doorway, gave a sympathetic sigh. “Right. Let me just get this out there – I'm going to be sleeping between you two and my sister, just to preserve what small bit of sanity she might be still hanging on to.” Blake nodded in agreement, Weiss in solemn (if begrudging) understanding. Ruby's dejected slump held until she plopped lifelessly onto a bed by the wall, leaving her bags behind for Yang to toss over later.

“Furthermore, I'll need to ask all of you to use the strongest suppressing deodorant you can stomach.” More hesitant nods. “I know it sucks, and it won't ever be completely effective, but just for the sake of everyone's sanity, it's probably necessary.”

Weiss took the opportunity to chime in in her typical arrogant fashion. “I, for one, can control myself. I'm not interested in pursuing that... utter piece of work I've been chained to.”

Blake shot her a quick, frosty glare, scent spiking with possessiveness, offense, greed. “I'll hold you to that, Schnee.”

Weiss snarled, her Alpha taking over for only the slightest, terrible moment as their eyes met, sparks flying and scents battling overwhelmingly for Ruby's attention, for the other to back down. Ruby whimpered, pushing her head deeper into the pillow, and that shocked the resident alphas back to reality.

Blake met Yang's glare with a weak, tired grin. “Right. I'll get on the whole, uh, scent suppressant thing. Today. After a nap.”

Weiss grumbled in reluctant agreement. “I'll admit, taking down that Nevermore was pretty exhausting.”

Yang nodded, humming brightly, uncomfortably, a bit too loudly. “Great! Team naptime, coming right up. Uh, anything else to, er... Clear the air about?”

Ruby and Blake groaned in unison. It was a moment before Weiss joined them, taking in Yang's smirk with blatant disgust. “Does she do that often?”

Ruby rolled over, back against the wall, skirt and sheets shifting softly against each other as she burrowed in. “Take one pun aurally, twice daily and whenever you need a headache,” she deadpanned. Blake blinked, before groaning again, and Yang shot Ruby an excited air-high five. Ruby met her with a raised eyebrow. “Don't get used to it.” Yang pouted – to far less effect on Blake, Ruby happily noted, than her own had had.

Ruby glanced back over to Weiss, who seemed to have left bruising indents at either side of the bridge of her nose, and was presently mumbling something about “brutes” and 'not just the one sister being actually impossible to have a coherent and intelligent conversation with.' Given the circumstances, she let that slide.

Ruby tried really, really hard to sleep. She knew she needed it, and she knew that at least Yang had fallen under – the snores tended to give her away – but Yang didn't have the pure, unadulterated distraction that was two hot alphas flaunting their enticing, addictive, exhilarating scents, let alone when she was totally hard-crushing on the closer of the two. Blake had chosen the bed next to Yang's, claiming to be accustomed to sleeping with company, while Weiss was more comfortable 'as far from that barbaric duo as possible.' Honestly, it's like she's never met friendly people before.

And therein lie, tossing and turning in her stomach like a petulant child past their bedtime, the real issue. The scents, and just Blake's presence, were distracting enough. But part of Ruby was more worried about what came next – Trying to work effectively with this hodgepodge team, let alone lead it. Blake, she figured she'd get along with once she opened up a bit more, and Yang, while two years her elder and in many ways a mother figure, had accepted her leadership proudly, with open arms. But it had to be stifling, being forced to work with people in many ways your opposite, for a rich, stuck-up, 'sophisticated' alpha to take orders from Ruby, of all people.

She wasn't sure she was cut out for leadership. She'd certainly been proud at the opening ceremony, being chosen for the role and the team named for her, but... Alphas didn't usually take well to higher-ups, especially omegas. It wasn't really their fault, she knew, it was an instinctual, ingrained role they played, but it didn't change that it'd quickly become an issue at this rate. And that was without even taking in Weiss' personality, her obvious and overwhelming desire to lead a team for herself, her expectancy of and entitlement to such a role.

Ruby Rose had her work cut out for her, and it hadn't even been a day.

She jumped as someone shifted on the other end of the room. The sharp tang of Blake's heavy, alluring scent came overflowing, a dam unleashed, carrying on it the sweet pull of contentment, desire... arousal?

She could hear a soft gasp as the scent abruptly shifted - mortification, fear – and Blake hopped out of bed, blushing face just barely visible over Yang's ever-undulating pile of blankets. Ruby flinched, instinctively closing her eyes and pretending to sleep, but Blake didn't seem to notice as she purposefully stalked away, the bathroom door clicking shut behind her. Ruby's eyes burst open and she hopped out of bed – Stealthily! Like the ninja she totally was! - and went to investigate the – Yep, okay, her sheets were slightly damp and smelled of Blake and her lavender perfume and honey-nectar ambrosia and Ruby was just gonna go lie back down and pretend she didn't just witness her crush waking up from a sex dream in the middle of the afternoon, nope, not gonna think about that at all just gonna sleep gotta be asle--

The door clicked open, and Blake blinked rapidly in surprise. Ruby's scent was strong, now, and she didn't quite know what to make of it. Suspicious, she glanced over at her bed – Ruby's eyes were squeezed shut, like an adorable toddler trying her hardest to feign sleep, and Blake couldn't help but grin softly at the wash of contentment, amusement, familiarity, rightness that spread up from her belly and out through every limb.

She padded silently over to Ruby's bed as though pulled magnetically, wholly unable to stop herself from taking advantage of the rare moment. She'd long since learned the art of suppressing her scent just slightly, pulling back only for a moment, so that the pheromone-sensitive wouldn't feel her approach, and so when she laid a soft, selfish kiss on Ruby's forehead, it was to her victim's complete surprise. She stiffened, and Blake chuckled. “So damn cute.” Another peck into her beautiful, silky hair, threading two fingers through her short, messy locks, lingering just long enough to inhale, greedily memorizing its utterly addicting rose petal and petrichor, anticipation and surprise and innocent allure.

Soon she found her fingers untangling from fiery tips, and her wrist instinctively sliding down, rubbing across that entrancing neck, kneading softly against that beautiful curve down to shapely collarbone...

She snapped out of it when Ruby inhaled sharply through her nose, eyelids just holding back from slamming open. Blake jerked away and blinked in shock. Did I really just...? Holy shit. “Holy shit,” she whispered under her breath. “Oh, Maidens, I am so sorry.” She scampered off to her own bed, unconsciously pulling the comforter tight. She'd lost control. She never lost control, she couldn't afford to, but she just had. Why?

Two very confused, very mortified girls with very red cheeks curled in on themselves tighter under their blankets, trying and failing to make sense of what had just happened.

When morning came shining offensively through the blinds – and it did, to Blake's abject disappointment – Weiss and Yang finally stirred. They'd somehow managed both to sleep through the afternoon and evening – an impressive feat with Blake and Ruby laying awake or tossing about fitfully all the while. Yang seemed unphased by the extra sleep – As her sister and occasional cuddle-partner, Ruby could attest that Yang was no stranger to hibernation - but Weiss was springing out of bed with all the urgency of a flock of songbirds fleeing from Ruby's semblance.

“How did I sleep so long? How!?” Weiss mumbled loudly to herself. “It's past 7:30, we hardly have time to prepare for class!” She staggered hurriedly into the bathroom, throwing open her suitcase and yanking out a bag of toiletries on the way. Ruby shot up, confused, and started rapidly changing to head down to breakfast.

Blake reluctantly disentangled herself from her sheets, scrunching her eyes and quietly stretching. No sleep now, I guess. “Weiss!” She and Ruby both flinched at her unexpectedly loud voice.

“Yes?” she huffed through the door.

“It's Saturday.” She flopped back down on the bed. Ruby blinked owlishly and followed in turn, eyes pointedly avoiding Blake.

“And? We've important things to accomplish today! Picking up our textbooks, at least two hours of exercise, morning and evening...” The sound of running water came to an abrupt halt, and Weiss came strutting back into the room, one hand ticking off the day's chores and the other expertly pulling her exquisite hair into that adorably crooked ponytail. “There's a campus tour at 10, which is non-mandatory for students but I won't be letting you lazy oafs skip it just so I have to drag you everywhere for the next three months.” She leveled a hard glare at Yang in particular, and the blonde scratched her neck, sheepishly avoiding eye contact. “Also, I personally have an important meeting with Headmaster Ozpin scheduled for this afternoon, which leaves precious little time for going over class material to prepare for Monday. I assure you, we have little time to laze about. Move!”

Ruby and Yang reluctantly got to their feet, Ruby halfheartedly smoothing out wrinkles that had formed from snuggling back into bed in her uniform and letting out a huge yawn. Blake froze, staring. Her neck was pale, smooth but for an old scar traveling past her ear and down past her collar, stretched taught, slightly-swollen scent gland on full display. Her heart rate doubled, and Ruby stiffened. Their widened eyes briefly met, and Blake flinched away, throwing herself into the day's preparations with manufactured gusto.

Weiss sniffed once, frowning. “Okay, what was that?”

Yang finished struggling to pull a blouse over her head, and glanced about the room before raising an eyebrow at Weiss. “What was what?”

Ruby stared at the ground, nerves on-end, as Weiss eyed her suspiciously. “Their scents just... spiked, is all. Towards each other. Frankly, I don't need to know what's going on, but it's distracting and if this is going to be a regular thing, then Yang was definitely right about those scent-blockers. I'll add that to the list of today's tasks.” She brusquely pulled out her scroll, and started tapping. Ruby shot her a nervous grin, then made for the bathroom herself.

Once she'd shut the door, Yang locked eyes with her partner, lips pulling into a shit-eating grin. “Start as friends, huh?” Blake's cheeks went bright pink and she scowled, stalking out of the room letting the door slam closed behind her. Why can't I just control myself? She'd just had to go and make things all weird from day 1. She sneaked a glance down the hall, ensuring nobody was there to watch, then wiggled her ears, sighing in satisfaction at the momentary relief after days without removing her bow.

She heard someone past the corner, and schooled her ears and expression both into stony stillness. She smelled him before she could get a good look – male, omega, nervousness and faint traces of vomit. Ah, the boy who'd lost his lunch on the airship. She thanked her good graces that inhaling a pound of seafood in under a minute hadn't left her in the same predicament.

“Oh, hey! I'm Jaune, your dorm-building-mate I suppose,” He called out good-naturedly, waving, as he approached. He took her in curiously for a moment, then his eyes flashed in recognition. “Blake, right? Ruby was saying good things about you when we met yesterday. Nice to meet you in person!”

“You talked with Ruby yesterday?”

“Yup!” Jaune grinned.

“And she talked about me? Long enough to get out multiple compliments?”

“I mean, yeah? Seemed like you were on her mind at the time, for sure.”

“Jaune, we went to sleep immediately after getting to the dorms. When did you even meet?”

He tilted his head curiously. “We kinda got lost together for a while between the airship landing and initiation. Wandered around campus wishing we had a map? I'm surprised she didn't tell you.”

Blake blinked. Somehow, the time between meeting Ruby and becoming her teammate had entirely slipped her mind, as though they'd never truly been separated. “Right. Yeah, you're right. Huh.”

Jaune considered her for a moment. “Wait, don't tell me that's why you smell taken today?”

She choked on air, pounding her chest as she doubled over trying to breathe. “What!?”

Jaune backed a step away, scent tinging with confusion and uncomfortable tension, a ceiling fan with a screw loose, a forest lacking birdsong. “Yeah, like... Like I'm not supposed to come near you, 'cuz you're claimed? You know, that heavy kinda 'do not approach, look elsewhere' feeling.” Jaune held his hands up in surrender. “Um. Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed it was Ruby, huh? That was really rude of me. You only just met, and I'm sure a strong, p-pretty alpha like you could have definitely found someone wherever you came here from! And... I'm just realizing you're kinda really terrifying and I'm just gonna stop talking now.”

The blond shuffled past her in tactical retreat, head bowed deferentially, and Blake slumped in place. Forced scenting on the first day... Hell of a team building exercise. Weiss certainly knew after this morning's antics, and Ruby would figure it out soon enough. She only hoped the others would forgive her and be amenable to working through the situation like the adults Yang and Ruby definitely weren't – and that her 'friendship' with Ruby wasn't over before it'd even begun.

Chapter Text

Ruby was acting weird. Well, not that she'd ever struck Weiss as not-weird, but there was certainly a new element to it today. She'd kept a careful eye on Ruby ever since Blake had left (driven to an early breakfast by Yang's incessant nonsense) and yet found herself wanting more for answers at every turn. Clearly, the two had some sort of history, and clearly they were interested in each other.

Not that Weiss was in any way envious, of course.

But there was a certain indisputably uncomfortable tension hanging about the room that morning, and Weiss, as RWBY's rightful leader, determined that it fell upon her to ensure things worked out. For the good of the team.

By the time she'd finally herded the sisters down to breakfast, the wayward disturber of the peace had long since vacated the premises, much to Ruby's conflicted disappointment if the look on her face had anything to say about it. She was sure she was boring a hole in Ruby's skull with her consistent, careful observation, but the girl didn't once acknowledge her, lost entirely in a thoughtful daze as she idly cut and scooped chunks of pancake past her lips with a spoon. Again, of course, to no particular chagrin on Weiss's, except perhaps regarding the blatant disrespect for balanced diets and the proper utilization of cutlery.

Weiss and Yang shared a cautious look. The blonde seemed a bit taken aback by Ruby's behavior, opting to silently cut the teasing from their regular routine in self-imposed penance. She blamed herself for her sister's off mood, Weiss realized, making a mental note to softly nudge that aspect of her character the next time her boisterousness became too much. She was not so unlike Winter, in that way.

Finally, Yang nudged her sister with an elbow, taking a napkin and dabbing at the runny amber goop now spattered about those rose-red lips and yanking Ruby out of her syrup-soaked reverie. Watching Yang dote happily on her sister, effortlessly teasing contentment and connection and love into Ruby's very being, it took Weiss a moment to notice the tiny smile softly pressing itself into her features. She turned away, suddenly feeling intrusive. The scene was not meant to her; It was too intimate to be comfortably observed. Carefully, she waited for Yang to finish up and silently schooled her features into her trademark scowl.

“Right, it's a busy day, and you--” She turned to meet Ruby's mirthful eyes “-- took plenty long devouring those monstrosities. Up! Textbooks time!” Ruby and Yang sighed in defeat, and Weiss couldn't help the twinge of pride that accompanied that. They were, for now, back to themselves.

It was past noon before the topic resurfaced. Blake was still off on her own – Yang had apparently at least confirmed she was safe, had picked up her school materials in her stead – but the rest of RWBY and JNPR had naturally fallen into place intermingling with each other over potato salad, mystery meat, and in Ruby's case, far too tall a pile of cookie cake slices. Weiss casually observed the rowdy mix from the sidelines, reluctantly amused, a reaction apparently shared by Ren, who she'd quickly learned she got along with quite easily. The boy had a very, very strange and unfamiliar scent to him, but Weiss figured that was a question for another day, and his pleasant company far and away made up for it.

Jaune shot Ruby another curious glance. It was perhaps the fifth Weiss had personally witnessed over the last half-hour of conversation, but it left her just as in the dark as the first. He knew something she didn't, and seemed curious enough to conspire with over it. Perhaps if she justified not asking Ruby directly with made-up worries over sisterly intervention, he might be an easier path to the truth.

Plus, he seemed about as Omega as they come. Total pushover, total gossip. Probably interested in Weiss herself as well, statistically speaking at least. This would be easy.

“Arc.” He raised an eyebrow quizzically, mirrored by half the table as the conversation around them screeched to a halt.

“You finally start talking to JNPR, and you start with him!?” Nora's bewildered exclamation was met with a few nervous chuckles from around the table, and from Ren a sigh of clearly-affectionate chagrin. Weiss could sympathize.

“Yes.” Her gaze held steady, face neutral, betraying nothing. She tilted her head and jutted her chin subtly over her shoulder. “May I have a moment?”

His face went nearly as pale as it had on the airship. “Y-yeah. Yeah, okay. Be right back, guys.” Then, in an a reluctant, quiet addendum, “Probably.” Weiss only swept one last glance about the table, deciding any social faux-pas of her own making could be settled on her return, and stepped out into the hall, Jaune on her heels.

“Right,” she started, spinning around to face him and causing him to flinch, “What's up with Ruby? She was really out of it this morning, and you keep giving her that... weird 'I know you're hiding something and have an idea what it might be' look. Spill.”

He blinked in surprise and frowned, considering for a moment before nodding to himself. “Yeah, okay. You're... You care about her, so I guess you deserve to know. Um. This morning, I saw Blake in the hall.”

Weiss felt her expression twitch, brows furrowing, before hastily schooling her face to normal again. “Did you? So it is about Blake, then. She kind of disappeared on us, after that.”

Jaune scratched his neck. “Yeaah, that might be my fault.” Weiss's raised eyebrow prompted him to continue. “She smelled taken. Um, like she and Ruby were together, or something.”

Weiss dropped the facade, letting her irritated confusion show plain. “Like they'd shared scents?”

“Exactly.”

Well, there it was.

“Ruby doesn't, though.”

Now it was the Arc boy's turn to frown in bewilderment. “Doesn't smell like Blake? 'Cuz Blake definitely had some Ruby on her.”

Weiss pursed her lips in consideration. “You know, I'm not sure. I didn't... check, exactly. Actually, she probably does, now that I think about it. That awful, sickly-sweet lavender-vanilla-pine odor hasn't left us all day. I even kind of forgot Blake was missing for a while.” Her fingers tangled at her waist, mingling, tugging at each other in an old stress-habit she hadn't fallen back on in years. It used to help her think, to get a hold of herself when she was on the edge of an anxious breakdown or a manic episode with no outlet. She found concentrating on one finger at a time forced her mind to wander less, gently redirecting it back on track to more fruitful endeavors, but then, a proper lady did not have nervous tics. Of course, neither did she race through trees, letting clods of dirt fly up at her feet as she engaged in blood sport, of all barbaric endeavors, so she allowed herself the brief, 'unladylike' comfort.

“So, they shared scents. That should be more than enough to stave you off, make it a bit uncomfortable to share a room or look at her... Is that not the case?”

“No. Perhaps a pinch of the opposite, in fact.” Pinching between the eyes was also a nervous tic, but one discouraged only by mild paternal disapproval; It was too useful a headache-quenching tool to consider ever dropping, even if she hadn't secretly relished in that tiny scowl of her father's.

“R-right. Well, um. I don't actually have anything else, then, sorry. Usually that, uh, that doesn't happen.”

He was halfway back through the doors to the cafeteria when Weiss's hand flashed forward, grabbing him by the sleeve. “Thank you.” He nodded stiltedly, whining from the base of his throat – classic, needy omega... – before catching himself and pulling away to flee back to his team.

Okay. He was a resource she'd be sure to utilize in the future. For now, though, she shot Yang and Ruby a text reminding them of her upcoming meeting with the headmaster, and went on her way.

Ruby spent the day deep in thought. Whatever had happened last night – it'd taken her off guard, and from the looks of things, she wasn't the only one. Weiss was acting all weird and inquisitive and she couldn't seem to find a moment of privacy from those burning, curious eyes. Yang was leaving her alone for once, which in itself was a warning bell that something was really, really off.

And of course the girl of the hour herself was missing, which was a unique distress all its own. Ruby didn't like to think of herself as clingy, but... Well. She did get attached to people pretty quickly, and Blake's absence was certainly not helping her mood. She'd found herself stalking the halls as soon as the afternoon's excitement had worn off, freshly showered after a rather laborious two hours of “balance training” under Weiss' direction and restless with a certain super-cuddly-looking bookworm absent. Few students remained in the building, most having long-since retreated to an evening's relaxation far away from their designated place of learning.

Regardless, an easy solution failed to present itself. Without the perpetrator herself to talk to, she was left completely in the dark, agonizing over an unsolvable riddle with little to show for the effort.

“Ruby?” It was so unfair! And frustrating! How do you just... Walk over in the middle of the night and start kissing someone like that? Well, okay, it'd technically happened in mid-afternoon, but that was beside the point; She'd ostensibly been asleep and there'd been no communication of intent, let alone acknowledgment of the importance of consent and personal autonomy that should accompany such intimate gestures. And yes, she understood that Blake was an interested alpha and likely hadn't exactly chosen to come on to her in that way. She'd certainly seemed remorseful and repentant after coming back to her senses, which was a whole 'nother confusing dog to fry!

“Ruby.” She felt a hand gently settle on her shoulder, hesitant but oddly comforting as its owner purred out her name. An unfamiliar touch. Not Yang's, at least – and then she caught a whiff of that full-bodied, tantalizing lavender and spun around, jerking away from that offending, slender hand that she could think of such better uses for -- No, Ruby! Angry! Upset, not horny, ya dumb-dumb! No lovestruck omegas here, nuh-uh! But in that instant, seeing her prodigal teammate's face fall in genuine contrition and concern, her heart failed to resist her sway.

“Blake.” Her voice came out hoarse, exhaustion running through it to match that of the girl in front of her. Her bow was sagging adorably as though it could emote honestly in Blake's place and Ruby couldn't help but giggle softly at the image, but quickly caught herself and forced herself to pout. “I've been trying to work it out all day, but I just... Right.” She marched her off to an empty classroom, and shut the door behind them with a resounding whump. “Okay. Explain yourself.”

“I... can't.” Ruby's face scrunched up in exasperation, but that melted upon catching Blake's pained wince as she continued, sagging bonelessly against the door. “Look, I don't know what came over me. That sort of... Complete lack of control? Never before.” She met Ruby's eyes with confusion and determination, molten amber swimming around dilated whirlpools of jet-dark ink. “You're the first person who's done that to me.”

Ruby tried and failed not to do her best impression of a beached goldfish, lips working to find any word or phrase that might adequately describe the roiling bubbles beneath the surface. “I know, it was weird and sudden and utterly out of turn, not to mention a complete breach of trust. You wanted to start as friends, and I thought I could respect that.” Blake slid to the floor, curling up around herself (with surprisingly flexibility) and refusing to meet Ruby's eyes. “But I failed.”

She couldn't help herself. It was as instinctual a pull as a lover's heartbeat has to quicken, as Grimm to terror, dance to song. Her cloak came swishing dramatically behind her and rose petals sank through the air, her arms wrapping tight around her reclusive, tense teammate. “I probably would've let you, you know.” She thanked the Maidens her flushing visage was hidden in the crook of her crush's neck, and her eyes fluttered shut as she resisted the urge to breathe in deeply. “K-kiss me. You just... I wish I'd known it was coming, so I could agree to it.”

Blake kept perfectly still in her arms, refusing to relax into her touch. “Ruby, that's not all I forced on you. Have you, um. Have you ever been Scent-Marked before?”

Ruby's eyes flew wide-open in recognition. “Ohh! That's what that was! Probably explains why Weiss and Jaune were looking at me funny all day, and Ren trying so hard not to!” She pulled back from her partner – partner? When had she started thinking of her as a partner? – and put on her best understanding-but-strict mom-face. “Blake. If you're going to be Marking me as yours... Th-that's fine, I think, I don't really mind on principle. But,” and she could feel herself turning into a tomato and hear the squeakiness in her voice, “Um, I kinda need to know we're an actual thing first? Like, I don't want that if we're not together-together. And also that you actually want something like that, not just your inner Alpha but you, Blake, your conscious self? And also,” by now her hands had wandered up to her face and she was peeking through her fingers, “Ireallyhopeyou'reokaywithusdatingotherpeopletoobecauseI'mreallyuncomfortablewithactingmonolikejustasarulenotbecauseit'syou!Andifthat'snotokayit'sfinewecanjustforgetallthisbutyoushouldprobablyknowbeforethere'sabunchofrealemotionalinvestmentjustplease don't hate me?”

Blake's expression was unreadable, but she shifted forward, laying a calming hand on Ruby's knee, fingers trailing soft, meaningless patterns into her skin, while the other pried the girl's scarlet-touched face free of her own grasping digits. “Ruby. I didn't quite catch all of that, but... Ruby, I could never hate you. I think I get the gist of what you were going for though, in which case... Yes. Maidens, yes.” Their bodies pulled close to each other, and Ruby could feel hot breaths just barely brushing against her exposed collarbone. “Yes, I want to try dating you for real – you're far too kind, adorable, and delectably intriguing to pass up.” She pulled yet closer, whispering into Ruby's ear, lips just barely brushing skin. “Yes, I want to Mark you for my own, and be known as yours in kind.” Ruby shivered, planting one hand on the floor behind her to ground herself. A slender wrist, pushing against Ruby's more childlike own, settling comfortably together as their fingers intertwined. “And yes, I can share. Provided I trust your other partners, of course; I won't have you getting hurt,” and wow could she growl like a sexy protective lion. Ruby whimpered as surprisingly sharp teeth grazed across her jawline, then let out a soft gasp as Blake pulled back, tongue whetting her lips, and brought her free hand up to gently cup Ruby's face, thumb rubbing cautiously against her cheekbone, exploring, claiming.

But then, as suddenly as it'd begun, Blake blinked and let go, hands dropping limply to her lap. Gone was the confidence, the attitude, the raw, unfiltered desire, and in its place a demure blush, batting lashes, failure to meet Ruby's eyes. It was, frankly, the most adorable whiplash Ruby had ever endured.

“So, um... What say ye?”

A beat. Then Ruby snorted, unable to contain the sort of cackling that only comes from some combination of shock, relief and unbearably mirthful anticipation. It was a few moments before she stopped rolling about, wiping clumsily at tears with a sleeve and turned to face her reluctant temptress once more, giggles still spilling from her throat and floating in the air, shimmering in late-afternoon sunbeams like dust. “You are such a dork.” She grinned wide and surged forward, kneading her answer unquestionably into Blake's lips, and never once stopped smiling.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Blakey?” Yang called across the room, turning for a moment away from the flashcards she'd been studying over Weiss's shoulder. The two of them seemed to have taken to doing their classwork together – well, it was more like Weiss had forced her into private tutoring sessions, but regardless, most nights they holed up on the opposite end of the room from Ruby and Blake. The space was appreciated, but it'd become something of a pain to find Yang's things sprawled across her mattress every night, and so Blake had started purposely tossing her things back in no particular order, just to get a rise. It amused her.

“Yes, O Great Esteemed Partner of Mine?” Another of her recent sources of entertainment. Studying with Weiss tended to have... Interesting side effects on the victim's verbiage, and catching Yang correctly using “Obstructionist” in casual conversation had been a definite highlight of her week.

“Any chance you could, you know... Tune it down a bit? Just while we're in the room.”

And then there was Ruby. Ruby, who she'd lost control over and scented on their first night together; Ruby, who didn't mind her clingy cuddles (and in fact reciprocated with gusto); Ruby, whose scent was of roses and rain and who tasted of mint and strawberries; Ruby, who for the first time in her life, made her want to stay.

Blake scowled, nuzzling further into Ruby's neck and peppering her with light kisses and drawing out an embarrassed giggle. “No,” she mumbled, muffled by her freshly-minted girlfriend's skin.

Yang sighed and looked away reflexively, heaving her legs up onto Blake's mattress and nervously drumming her fingers on her thighs. “Look, you guys, I just... Take pity on poor Weiss, yeah? She obviously can't concentrate while y'all are macking all up on each other. I can hardly tune out my sister's constant girly giggling, and I don't even have The Scentse.”

Ruby groaned, but made no move to unlatch from her honeymooning girlfriend. Blake made a point of rewarding that, fingers curling into the lily-soft pajama bottoms about her thigh and tugging out a soft, very different kind of groan.

Weiss, who had been stiffly staring at the same page of her History of Grimm textbook for the last two hours in the corner, flinched and reluctantly nodded towards Yang in appreciation.

“Look, I know how happy you two are right now, but we just can't focus with you in the room these days. Please, for the sake of your poor, distraught teammates, give us a break.”

“Weeelll...” Ruby hummed, smirking mischievously as she held her recent bedmate's hand against her, renewing her ministrations. “If we're getting you too hot and bothered to study school stuff, maybe we could teach you something more interesting?”

“Ruby Rose! The filth that comes out of your mouth!” Blake chuckled the blonde's faux-indignance, before being unceremoniously shoved off the bed and onto the floor, yelping and landing on all fours as Yang leaped over onto Ruby, hugging her into a playful tackle.

“Yang, what the fuck?” Blake leaped to her feet, stumbling back into the wall in astonishment and hands gripping frantically for bedding to steady herself.

“Don't you be corrupting my poor, innocent baby sister, you seductive fiend!” Yang met Blake's gaze, staring her down with a huge, shit-eating grin plastered in place as she pinned Ruby down into the sheets and tickled.

Unable to stay mad when Ruby was giggling so hard, Blake snorted in amusement and shakily exhaled. These damn sisters are going to be the life of me. She opened her mouth, playful reprimand on the tip of her tongue, but the words caught in her throat when she was assaulted by the primeval awareness of a sexual rival, of Weiss; Weiss, who was leaning towards them, fists clenched around her desk as if holding her in place, pupils blown, nostrils flared. Weiss, whose fresh-snow-and-mountain-berries musk was going completely ballistic, greasing the room in the cloying stench of alpha-typical jealousy.

Ruby seemed to notice it too – obviously, what kind of oblivious omega could ignore that overpowering stench? - and skittered out from under her sister, molding herself into Blake's firm, comforting hold. “Weiss?”

There was a long, pregnant pause, and Ruby was squirming in place before Weiss tore her oppressive gaze off of her teammates, spun in place, snatched the textbook off the table, and wordlessly sprinted from the room, door slamming behind her.

“Aww, man. I just made it worse, huh?” Yang plopped backwards onto Ruby's mattress, golden hair spilling irreverently across her pillow and, Blake couldn't help but notice, tank top riding up juuust enough to catch a glimpse of those beautiful, perfectly-sculpted abs-- She tore her eyes away, burying the shame on her face in Ruby's mop of bed-hair.

Then again, she thought, perhaps looking isn't so bad. It had been Ruby, after all, who'd insisted on non-exclusivity in their relationship, and a girl couldn't be blamed for finding the same genes attractive in different people. She wanted to whisper in Ruby's ear, to point out that she too was staring, but decided it'd serve better as future blackmail material and poked her to get her attention instead. “Think one of us should go calm her down?”

Yang gave the couple a once-over and snorted. “You really think it'd help? You two aren't gonna be able to calm her down any time this century, after that little display. You... Are wearing your suppressants, right?”

They both nodded, Blake's chin dragging across Ruby's scalp and sending her into a fit of shivers which she tried uselessly to hide from Yang. Adoring golden eyes met mirthful, smirking lilac, and Yang rolled reluctantly off of Ruby's bed, her own pushed up so close she couldn't have fallen to the floor if she tried. She laid on her side and faced the couple, head propped up in one leather-gloved hand, and gave a long-suffering sigh. “Guess that falls to me then, huh? Wish me luck, team. I just hope I don't... freeze up when I get there.”

“Get. Out.” Yang jumped to action, cackling as Blake nearly shoved her out the door. With a cry of “I know you love meeeee!” Yang fled the wrath of her battle partner, ducking under a flying Gambol and narrowly avoiding a collision with the wall before the room again fell into blissful silence.

“Hey, Blake?”

“Yes, Ruby dearest?”

Ruby paused in surprise and shrunk back into a blush at the unexpectedly verbal affection, taking a moment to collect herself before continuing. “Don't get me wrong, it's kinda really hot when you get all possessive like that, but we'd probably have an easier time if we actually were considerate of our teammates. Also, your bow's doing the thing again.”

My bow? It's doing – Nonono she can't know, how does she know oh Oum my secret's already out and it's only been a week what do I say I can't let the others know! I have to make sure Schnee doesn't-- She caught Ruby staring as her mind spun, and forced her lips to move. “... My bow? What bow thing, Ruby?”

“You know... Where when you're annoyed it flattens backwards, or when you're surprised it twitches a bit?” Ruby blinked in confusion, scooting out of Blake's lap and facing her across the bed, eyes scanning Blake's body any reaction, searching for meaning. “You didn't know? I dunno what's living under there that you don't wanna talk to us about but anyway it's totally cute but I figured whatever's going on there isn't something you wanted people to know about so, you know, I figured I'd... Warn you? You know, that it was happening again. But also, like, if you didn't know about it, that means it's probably a.... weird aura parasite or tiny animal or something, so be careful!”

“Uugh... Why did I have to go and start dating the most affectionate, understanding, aggravatingly observant, human girl?”

Eyes wide, Ruby planted her hands on her sheets in anticipation ugh, like a puppy, the worst kind of adorable, as Blake hung her head and forced her fingers through the ribbon around her ears to pull the knot out, letting it flutter silently to the sheets between them. Ruby stared in fascination and one ear twitched in response.

“Oh.” Voice steeped in fascination and awe, Ruby crawled an inch closer before catching herself. “My Oum.” She cautiously reached forward, and Blake mentally chastised herself for instinctively leaning in to her touch. One finger, impossibly gentle and feather-light, came to stroke the velvety-smooth feline appendages, before pulling back in self-admonition. “Blake, you're a Faunus?”

“No, I'm a cosplay fetishist,” she snorted. Her snark was offset by an amused twitch of an ear, and Ruby giggled in spite of herself. “Yeah, they're real.”

“Blake...” Tears began welling at the corner of her eyes, and she launched herself into the cat faunus's jerky, uncertain arms. “You shouldn't have to hide. And you definitely don't need to hide from me, okay?” Slowly, cautiously, she relaxed into her omega's arms, settling into that crook of her neck she'd become so accustomed to occupying over the last week. “Also, your ears are so cute and soft and actually are you okay with me touching them? Because oh my Oum they're so soft and... And I heard once that Faunus ears feel good when you scratch them? And if you're okay with that I think I'd just really like to cuddle and do that for a bit.”

Blake met her girlfriend's eyes, appraising her searchingly. “Frankly, I don't think you understand quite what that would mean, Ruby. It's... In Faunus culture, that's a huge sign of affection, intimacy and commitment. Kind of like... scent marking...”

Ruby raised an eyebrow at that.

“Okay, fine, fair point. Um, do you... Yes. That's fine. But, I should warn you that your research was... very correct. Um. We should probably not... Until we...”

“Blake? Are you alright? … I hesitate to ask if a cat got your tongue, but hey, now you know I was thinking it don't hurt me?”

“You're fine, Ruby.” Blake met Ruby's embarrassed, guilty blush with one of her own. “You're right that scratching behind my ears would feel good. In fact, it would feel very... very good.”

She must've been blushing quite deeply, because all Ruby managed to eke out was a soft “Oh.”

“It's not something you'd do in public. Or anywhere but a very private bed. And that's even if I weren't... You know, hiding, from everyone else. It wouldn't make sense for you to be playing with my bow all the time around people, you know?

“Y-yeah.”

“But more than that, we're just not really at that level of intimacy yet,”

“... Yeah.”

Blake couldn't help the painful tug at her heart at the disappointment and guilt wrapped up in that one, tiny word.

“Maybe... Maybe someday, when we're alone and we know Yang and Weiss aren't coming back anytime soon. Once we're a bit more... Acquainted with each other. The ear thing... With an Omega doing it, it could send me into an early and particularly heated rut, and that's not something you should have to deal with until we're much more comfortable together.”

Ruby jerked away, tripping on the dent between her and Yang's mattresses, strange sounds of overloaded malfunction playing from her throat. “Yeah, that's what I thought.” Blake pulled her face into a cocky smirk, then shifted atop Ruby, capturing her lips in a seal of comfortable familiarity. It was a moment before Ruby got over her shock and managed to stumblingly return the favor. Mission accomplished, Blake pulled back an inch.

“So... You can play with my ears all you want, sweetheart. Just be prepared to deal with the consequences.” Not for the first time that night, a shiver of anticipation and heat flooded their bodies, overheating their heads, and they lay together in silence and strangely comfortable companionship.

“Okay. If and when I... Uh, play with your adorable kitty ears, it will be with express acceptance of and responsibility for any side-effects that may come attached. Does that... Does that work, for you?”

Blake hummed in satisfaction. “Message received loud and clear, Captain.” She shot Ruby a playful glance, and caught her failing spectacularly to suppress a laugh.

“Nerd.”

“Dork.”

“Cutie.”

Blake could feel herself glowing as she shifted closer against her girlfriend, peppering her jaw with gentle pecks. “Darling,” she intoned in a drawn-out whisper, reveling in the honeyed moan that was her reward and the unique and intoxicating scent – suppressed though it was – of her own lust melded with Ruby's enthusiastic reciprocation.

There was a pause, bodies held still against each other, as Ruby deliberately slid a wrist against Blake's. “How's that?”

A muted growl came pouring from Blake's throat, and she flung herself aggressively back into action, wrist rubbing harshly against her partner's, tongue lashing over teeth, hips grinding greedily into her thigh. Someone moaned, louder this time – it took Blake a moment to realize it had been herself – and Ruby responded by tugging her yet closer, hands digging under hems and dragging along flesh. Another growl, and suddenly she was holding Ruby's hands against her, pulling them up under her nightshirt, dragging them up further to apply much-needed pressure as her hips bucked--

A fist knocking against their door shattered their illusion of privacy, calling a thunderous end to the fleeting moment. The two Huntresses flew apart, frantically fixing hair, pulling clothing back into place, scanning Weiss's bedside mirror for marks. Seeming to accept her appearance, Ruby glanced over to Blake, got an irritated nod, and reluctantly pulled open the door.

As it turned out, they needn't have put so much work into appearing put-together and totally-not-disheveled. Lie Ren, hair equally mussed up and clothing a thrown-together mess of uncoordinated wrinkles, stood before them. He was breathing hard, eyes wide, and leaning against the door as if he'd just tracked a Nevermore twenty miles, killed it, and sprinted back.

“This cannot go on any longer.” Blake and Ruby glanced at each other, then back to their partner-team-mate. “I'm glad you two seem to have found happiness together. But please, for the love of Oum, put a towel under the door before I strangle you both myself.”

Blake's uncovered ears twitched. Ruby's hand shot up to cover them. Ren pretended not to notice. “Sir, yes sir!” Ruby squeaked.

“Thank youu!” Jaune called through the ajar door opposite.

Ruby wordlessly squeaked again, and Blake couldn't decide whether she was about to die of mortification or pure, condensed cute. Ignoring the pleasant tension of Ruby's hand back on her ears, Blake shot Ren an apologetic grimace and nodded, easing the door slowly shut.

When Weiss and Yang returned hours later, Ruby and Blake had long-since passed out in each other's arms, and the halls had gone completely quiet in accordance with the time of night. The two of them snuck through the door, Weiss just managing to catch herself against Blake's abandoned bedframe after tripping over the impressive pile of damp towels sat in the entryway.

She made a pointed effort to ignore the stale arousal coating the air, and the fact that Ruby's hand was scratching at Blake's bow in her sleep. It had been a painfully frustrating day, and that was a discussion for after a nice, long rest.

Chapter Text

When Yang found her, she was sitting alone in a secluded corner of the library, earbuds in and face hidden behind mounds of scholarly texts. Not a new look for the Snow Queen, but Yang was beginning to realize that her supposed 'frigidity' was more of a defense mechanism than genuine hostility. She stood, watching quietly, as she took a moment to consider her options for approach.

Weiss wouldn't appreciate a jump-scare, not when she was as wound up as she'd seemed earlier. That was Yang's usual method out the window. Surprise shoulder rub? Nah, that'd also startle her. No surprises allowed. But how to get the attention of someone so shut-off without making them jump a little?

She settled on using her scroll, in the end. Hey, princess. I'm here if you want to talk about it. A buzz from Weiss's lap. She did, in fact, seem a bit startled, but at least painful retribution was unlikely at this distance.

There was a moment before Yang got a reply. Nothing I can't handle myself.

Yang clicked her tongue in irritation. Clarification – We're talking, now, for the team's sake and your own. Also, I'm literally here, like, standing in the library.

Weiss read the message, visibly winced, and slumped in her seat.

Yang sat herself heavily down on the chair opposite Weiss and met her resultant glare with firm certainty. “Talk to me, Weiss.”

The girl in question stuck her head back in her book and made a show of turning up the volume on her scroll. Oh, that uptight little-- Yang restrained her irritation, instead settling for pushing the book down and out of the way, eyebrow raised in silent condemnation. “I know you're not getting any actual learning done. We've been studying together, remember? I know what you look like when you're distracted, and I know you can't focus with music on.”

The glare she got in response – yeah, yeah, fuck me for trying, right? – wasn't enough to sway her, and so after a terse, painful eternity, Weiss removed her earbuds and crossed her arms.

“Why are you here? What do you really want?” She asked, expression as schooled as ever and tone suitably frosty.

“Look, I just wanna know what's got you so worked up! I mean I know it's about Blake and Rubes, but if you gave specifics I might be able to help. Or, you know,” she chuckled nervously, legs crossing finding their way up onto the chair at her side, “I could just listen to you vent. If you want.”

“Yang, this is bad enough without your insufferable, patronizing attitude on top. Leave me be.”

An amused snort. “Weiss, you're obviously frustrated as hell, and sitting alone trying to just ignore it isn't going to help. Believe me, I'd know.”

Weiss scrunched her face in distaste, apparently choosing to ignore Yang's deliberately crude word choice, and snapped the book shut. She let it rest on the table to point at Yang. “And you think talking it out will help? Look, if you think you somehow know what's best for me, you're sorely mistaken. And,” she sheepishly tagged on, “I don't think you'd appreciate hearing most of it anyway.”

“What, these guns got you all hot under the collar?” She smirked, flexing one arm. “It's okay to window-shop, but you'll have to work juuust a little harder to get at the goods.”

Weiss could only groan in response, and Yang took that as a good sign. Her attitude switching from “pissy and unapproachable” to “exasperated and still irritated but slightly amused” meant the good old 'playful flirting and dad jokes' distraction was working. She mentally patted herself on the back, careful to keep the relief out of her expression lest the moment end prematurely. The heiress had been difficult to connect to at first, but Yang was finally starting to find some semblance of shared human experience to latch on to. There was a certain motherly instinct in her, borne of playing the same role for her sister for so many years, that urged her to bring Weiss out of her shell, and she'd be damned if she didn't give it her best shot.

Even if that meant sacrificing her sister to a hungry Alpha in the process. Oh, what a devil you are, golden girl.

Smirk still firmly in place, she pushed further. “Sorry, sorry, shouldn't be flirtin' when you've so obviously got the hots for my sister.”

That got a reaction. Flustered, Weiss let out a choked snarl. “Xiao Long, if you know what's good for you, you will refrain from making such ridiculous, baseless accusations!”

Yang blinked and held her hands up in mock-surprise. “Whoah, whoah! 'Accusations?' Who ever said it was a bad thing?”

Weiss frowned. “What else could this possibly be? You've come and found me specifically to call attention to my apparent attraction to your sister. Who, might I add, is already taken, even though usually when you're taken you stop giving off those damn sexy pheromones all the time and people other than your partner stop having to deal with it, but nooo, Ruby just has to be the one exception, the one infuriating anomaly. I'm not even straight! I don't even like Omegas! But that girl just has to break all the rules, doesn't she!?” Yang watched in satisfaction as Weiss's voice grew louder, hand signals getting wilder and pent-up frustration coming explosively to the surface. My job here is done. She sat back and relaxed through the rest of Weiss's rant.

“But you wouldn't know, would you? You have no idea what it's like to have these... these agency-erasing base, animal instincts ruling over your life, messing with your perception of reality, telling you to ignore all conceptions of basic propriety, telling you to fucking growl at 'rivals' for a partner you never wanted, like they were a piece of meat and not an actual human person with their own wants and needs that don't include your predatory Alpha bullshit. I'm sick and tired of my shitty biology and those shitty pheromones telling me who to want and how to force myself on them, and I'm not going to stand for anyone, let alone you, making it worse!”

Yang coughed uncomfortably. It had grown uncharacteristically quiet, even for a library, and as she scanned the room a number of curious faces hastily turned away. By the end of her impromptu diatribe, Weiss had stood and raised her voice, sharp hand gestures flying through the air, and apparently it had caused quite a scene. She winced as she saw the librarian fixing them with a cold, hard glare.

“Should we... maybe finish this chat in private?” she whispered, and Weiss blinked out of her fervor, reminded of their location. A frustrated rumble slid from her throat as she let her head fall in her hand, surrendering to let Yang's tugging on her elbow lead her out of the library, down the hall and out the door.

“So.” Yang took a swig straight from the bottle of 5-year-old Junior's Whiskey Reserve, ignoring the way Weiss eyed the thing with barely-concealed suspicion and disdain. Yang shook it at her in offering, and she blanched, waving the offending item away.

“Good Oum, where did you even find that swill?”

“I know a guy.” She roughly placed the bottle on the floor at Weiss's feet. She sighed as the liquor sank into her, a familiar and comforting looseness letting her find comfort even on the dingy floor of one of the claustrophobic dormitory common rooms. Weiss had, smartly, elected to seat herself on a sofa. Always making the intelligent choice, that one. Unless it's about her feelings, of course.

“So! Feelings talk time!” Yang congratulated herself on her newfound adeptness at ignoring Weiss's scowls. “You're into girls, but not Omegas, so Ruby's scent indicating availability is throwing you off. Furthermore, her heightened pheromonal response when Blake's around is just making things worse, which is unusual because most people only ever have one concurrent partner, and therefore signal unavailability during those stinky romantic honeymoon periods, which is much easier to deal with for single Alphas. Sound about right?” Yang smirked at Weiss's slack jaw. “See, I can understand what you say sometimes! Nah, but for real, you're not the first person to ever complain about it.”

Weiss's eyes narrowed, staring deep into Yang's. “I'm sure. And what do you tell everyone else in this situation?”

Yang chuckled softly, sadly, to herself. “Help me wing-woman for her until she's saturated, I guess. And find someone else to let out your frustrations on.”

Weiss groaned. “I don't need a damn fuck-buddy, Yang. But, um... Saturated?”

Yang blinked. “Oh yeah, I kinda forget most people don't know all the terms for this stuff. Uh, so basically, Ruby is polyamorous, which means she can have multiple partners – she has too much love to just shove it all on one person, you know?” Another wistful chuckle. “Calling her 'saturated' is just a playful way to indicate she has all the partners she wants or needs, and isn't looking for any more.”

Weiss frowned and considered Yang's explanation, before casting an evaluating gaze over her roommate. “You get kind of philosophical and... chill? Melancholic? When you drink. This is new.”

Yang gave her biggest, proudest grin. “See, I can mingle with your high-society ways! Can't be boisterous and joking all the time!”

Weiss rolled her eyes and smiled begrudgingly, voice settling into a deadpan. “Aaand she's back. Save me from this unimaginable torment.”

Yang snorted and gave a full-bellied chortle. “Yup yup, still me in here. But, yeah! We should be partners-in-crime!” She waved a hand through the air. “Just imagine the headlines. Yang and Weiss Schnee, Wingwomen Extraordinaire, Finally Acquire Adequate Petals for their Rose!”

It was Weiss's turn to involuntarily huff out a quick laugh, and Yang easily followed suit, letting it go without comment just this once. She spun in place, snapping up the bottle as she laid back against the base of the sofa and taking one last quick swig before setting it aside. She tilted her head back, letting the buzz take over, and met Weiss's amused gaze hovering over her. She grinned up at her – The soft overhead light was framing her head just so, enhancing her face and hair with a beautiful angelic glow.

“So whaddaya say? Scout out partners for my sister with me, maybe rope Blakey into helping out if she'll also put up with me?”

Weiss smirked. “Not just philosophical, but self-aware, too! I should get you drunk more often.”

Suddenly, Yang had twisted to her feet and was hovering over her, eyes dark with something that made Weiss gulp on instinct and sit up straight in anticipation. “For you?” There was a too-long pause as Yang breathed heavily, gathering her words and taking in Weiss's delightfully flustered reaction and leaning in even further, lips brushing against the smaller girl's forehead. “Whatever you want.”

She pulled back, retrieving the bottle and doing her best not to outright smirk at Weiss's flustered confusion. She really, truly, was fun to mess with. “Anyway, I'll be counting on your help! Be on the lookout for good partners for my sister, yeah? In the meantime, if you reeally need a stress outlet, you can... Talk... with me anytime.” She winked as she sauntered out the door, leaving Weiss less confused but far more frustrated than before their talk. She groaned to herself and began the mental preparations necessary to return to her bedroom, where Ruby's aggressive scent and sister were both likely to be lying in wait.

Chapter Text

“But of course, as with all detailed theories on Grimm reproduction, these too are consistently embellished and, therefore, unreliable. There are a few elements we can find which appear across most or all indigenous stories, however, and those most certifiable ideas are what we'll be...”

Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby watched with great interest as Weiss twitched. Three minutes or so from the last time, she thought. It didn't seem to be a nervous tic, quite, but happened rather regularly; Grimm Anatomy was, apparently, the one class she couldn't stay awake through without some sort of weirdo rich people coping mechanism.

She wasn't the only one who had trouble paying attention in this class. Yang was tapping away on her scroll, occasionally making eyes and not-so-subtly flexing an arm at some random blushing fool across the aisle (nothing new there, she'd been at that since elementary school). Ruby could doodle or, like today, watch all the others try and miserably fail to pay attention. Both were of similar entertainment value. Jaune was flat-out asleep, and with a better angle she bet she could've caught the telltale shimmer of drool pooling on the textbook in front of him, still open to the first page of the chapter. Pyrrha, with her telltale fortitude, seemed distracted only by the ineptitude of her partner, but was otherwise jotting down quick notes in fleeting bursts, penciling in additions to an outline she'd obviously prepared ahead of time.

“... Have three distinct sexes, unlike humans; Though, what we may think of as the 'yy' and 'xx' sexes often bond for life, becoming a pseudo-fourth sex, a single...”

Tick. Tick. Ever so slowly, class droned forward. Blake had long since given in, tilting her textbook back into her lap so she could hide some cutesy romance novel behind it. It was a welcome change from her halfhearted attempts to tease Ruby through the most boring bits; They both knew anything truly stimulating would have the whole class glaring them down in nose plugs. The ginger from JNPR – Norma, or something – was babbling incoherently under her breath, her relatable zeal for doodling quite entertaining at first but quickly exhausting to watch even for Ruby.

“... From which many draw a parallel to the exceedingly rare homozygous-secondary humans which, while they generally don't live long past birth, can also form very strong...”

Weiss couldn't help but scoff at that, even knowing the little twerp was staring at her, drinking in her reactions like a damned freak show. Secondary, as if her status as “female” was anywhere near as important as “Alpha.” Centuries-old propaganda, that, meant to appease the Beta masses, assure them they were “normal” and that people like Weiss were the strange ones instead. A bit of simply uncultured terminology that, while certainly biased, wasn't precisely inaccurate, and as such she had no place to correct Oobleck on that one. At least, not until after class.

“...ck to Grimm, right! Essentially, those melded 'xxyy' beings tend to be the most fearsome of Grimm, commonly and erroneously referred to as 'Alphas.' The 'breeding' or 'hybrid' sex, on the other end of the spectrum, is rarely if ever...”

And she dozed off again, and again she twitched back awake. Quite the useful tool for long meetings during which one exists only as a pretty face.

Right, back to the topic at hand – Grimm Reproduction, a.k.a. Why Can't Ruby (And her Scent Glands) Stop Staring At Me class. She glared at her younger battle partner, hissed out a clipped 'stop that,' and grinned smugly as Ruby rolled her eyes and turned back to face the display at the front of the room, knotty bedhead swinging reluctantly into place behind. Three guesses who was at fault for that little faux-pas – the little devils had very quickly shown that no, they already had quite a solid understanding of “melding” and “hybrid sex,” thank you.

It was quite odd, actually – Last week's human anatomy primer had been accompanied with extensively detailed diagrams, everything from color-coded regions of the body to the tiniest capillaries labeled in excruciating detail, complete with sub-diagrams for each common human sex variant. The image on display now, however, was basically just the huge outline of a Beowulf with vaguely shaded regions where its basic organs were assumed to be, based on similar non-Grimm animals. None of this was even known for sure, really - Turned out creatures that dissolved into dust when you killed them were very hard acquire in cadaver form.

It hardly seemed to matter anyway. Hit the fleshy bits, don't hit the exoskeleton bone chunk things - that's all they'd ever needed to know about Grimm anatomy, but no, they had to sit through a lecture on entirely hypothetical Grimm breeding mechanisms! Honestly, this school sometimes.

Tick. Tick.

Tick.

Another half an hour remaining, and even Weiss gave up trying to listen at all. Glancing quickly to her sides, she made sure no one (except Ruby, but she was a given) was watching as she pulled out her scroll.

1:40 PM
[7 new messages]

Oh, goodie. She grimaced, but reluctantly opened the app, confirming they were all from Yang.

[12:58] hey weissy wanna watch jaune blush

[12:59] you missed it but I can do it again later

[1:03] hey gurl entertain me ;)

[1:20] aaaAAAAH what even is this VLASS

[1:33] weiss why are ruby and blake both staring at you

[1:34] tell me your trick i want my attention back pls pls

[1:39] gurl. get you a girl who looks at you like a 10lb bowl of raw fish but if that girl was blake, e.g. how she lookin at you NOW

And another one popping up as she watched:

[1:40] WEISS WHAT ARE YOU EVEN where are your PRIORITIES rn just LOOK PAST MY SISTER at tall dark and horny goddamn

Yes, as rightful team leader, she had a responsibility to be accessible to all of her teammates by scroll. No, she didn't deign this incoherent rambling worthy of any further attention. She turned back to her (conspicuously absent) notes and held back a smirk as Yang audibly huffed at her.

“... is generally thought to be located in a similar area to that of similar non-Grimm animals, though there have never been reports that these areas are anything like the 'weak spot' they would be on ordinary animals. It's highly likely that, in the non-breeding violent Grimm we usually deal with...”

[1:37] blakeyyy I see you checkin out the ice queen you can hide nothing from me

[1:37] Oh no you caught me, whatever shall I do!

[1:38] You think she's hot (heh) too, but at least I can admit it while sober

It'd been three minutes with no comeback from Yang which, in Blake's book, signaled a decisive victory. She'd probably be self-righteously smirking past Ruby right now, but... Well, she kinda felt bad targeting a recent soft spot of Yang's, even if she kind of had it coming. Besides, the two seemed preoccupied - Weiss seemed to be scoffing and ignoring Yang's silent pleas for... something? Which Ruby, ever the vigilant observer, seemed quite amused by in her own right.

Eh, no reason to deny them their fun – She gave Ruby's hand a quick squeeze, ignored the curious glance she got in response, and focused on their class.

“...for this reason that we can capture any number of minor Grimm safely, without the risk of their multiplying on us in captivity.”

Oh, wait, this was actually useful information. Ruby scrambled to pick out an non-colored pencil and jotted down a quick note, weaving the letters around her doodles to avoid defacing them with studying. 'Captured Grimm won't breed' was good to know, sure, but her poor little blueprintie-winties didn't deserve to be overwritten by something she'd easily remember anyway and really, what was the point of taking notes again when she always remembered anything useful without trying? Alas, she shook her head solemnly, This is my heavy burden to bear as a practical learner.

The lecture meandered back into the territory of academic ephemera (Damnit, Weiss, nobody should have to know what “ephemera” means!) and Ruby's eyes and ears again fled in search of entertainment. A cursory glance at Blake saw her smirking down at her notes – No, at her phone under her desk. Yang also appeared to be staring at her “notes” and typing furiously, then deleting everything, then typing again, in a painfully repetitive pattern that said something caught her off-guard. Eh, I'm sure she brought it on herself. And finally, Weiss--

Ruby glanced over and she could swear that Weiss had been looking her way but turned away to pretend she hadn't. She narrowed her eyes and kept watching, and sure enough a few seconds later Weiss was glancing back at her. They made eye contact. Weiss seemed admonished, but held her gaze out of stubbornness, or pride, or some other typically-Alpha reason. Not one to waste an opportunity, Ruby maintained eye contact and slowly bit her lip, smirking.

Was it really so wrong to take pleasure in making an Alpha blush and look away for once?

And was it really so wrong to disengage when someone as objectively nice-smelling and interested as Ruby acted all purposely-seductive like that? Maybe if Weiss were interested in any way beyond her basic and uncontrollable biological urges, she would tease back or act flustered or plan to start courting her team leader. But she wasn't interested in Omegas, and she definitely wasn't interested in giving her teammate any false hope of reciprocation.

She was startled out of her broodi-- contemplation! Her contemplation, when the school bell rang. Huh. Want to make half an hour of mostly-pointless lecture disappear in a flash? Try and figure out how to let down your battle partner lightly.

The next three-hour block was free combat practice, and teams RWBY and JNPR found themselves claiming a few small training rooms for one-on-one sparring, trading partners as soon as things got stale. Yang found herself passing the time pretty easily with Pyrrha and then Ren as partners. Neither of them talked much while sparring, and it was a pretty refreshing change from the usual team RWBY dynamic of constant verbal sparring on top of the physical. For that first hour or so, her mind was clear of the clutter of the last week's drama and her own broiling emotions.

And then Weiss came knocking at the door, and Ren, ever the respectful friend, left them alone together.

Their warm-up was silent except the sounds of shoes hitting the ground and weapons swooshing through the air. The scratchy breathing typical of anyone who's been fighting for an hour already. Soft grunts to accompany physical exertion.

And then, cutting through everything else like it was never there: “So, you kissed me last night.”

Yang stumbled, and Weiss' sword smacked against her arm in admonishment.

“Jeez, Weiss, don't phrase things like that while we're sparring.” She pulled her fists back to rest in front of her in a defensive boxing stance. “I kissed your forehead. I was buzzed and you were wound-up enough I thought some teasing might help.”

Weiss rolled her eyes and dropped her weapon, surprising Yang when she shifted into her own hand-to-hand pose. “Don't look so shocked, I'd prefer not to slice your arm off on accident when you're inevitably flustered by my reminding you that you literally propositioned me. Honestly, you can't take what you dish out sometimes.”

It took Yang a few moments to gather her mind at how frankly the Ice Queen was discussing such salacious topics, and she spent the time throwing out light, testing jabs at Weiss. She blocked and dodged them with ease, so Yang turned the heat back up to more normal sparring levels. A few minutes later, Weiss was on the ground panting and groaning and Yang was bent over, breathing hard and rubbing her knuckles. It wasn't until they'd gotten their breath back and were leaning against the wall, resting, that Yang responded.

“It's different, though, isn't it? When you use someone for stress relief, it's just a fulfillment of basic attraction and physical stimulation. When you kiss someone, though... Maybe you see things differently, but in my world, that's always meant something at least a little bit romantic. It's a different...” Weiss still looked confused, so she rushed to clarify. “Look, I'm no stranger to sex as a simple, no-strings thing to enjoy. I think you're cute, and if you wanted to get down, I wouldn't stop myself out of something so contrived as propriety. But as soon as it gets romantic? As soon as you start talking about kissing, as its own thing outside of purely a method of enhancing sex? That's when I'm reminded of my-- That's when I'm suddenly out of my depth.”

Weiss took a moment to process, then spun lazily to face her. “Are you? Because there's nothing sexual about kissing someone on the forehead. That's pure, sappy affection, Xiao Long.” She held Yang's gaze.

It was then that they both realized how close they were standing – Weiss could almost feel Yang's heavy breaths tickling at her jaw, if she imagined hard enough – but there was something about the thrum of the air between them that kept them both frozen in place.

“Yeah, well. Buzzed Yang lets out certain things she otherwise might not.” Weiss drank in the sight of her eyes flitting down to her lips, then back up again. “Adrenaline-high Yang too, apparently.”

In another world, one with a more confident Weiss whose childhood didn't consist of constantly being berated as a disappointment and a degenerate and a fool, she might have leaned forward and made a move then. Instead, the moment sat, tense, between them, and after a pregnant pause Yang let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“Maidens, I'm such an idiot.”

Weiss blinked, and the moment was lost. Frowning, she said, “Yang, yeah you're an oaf sometimes, but you shouldn't talk about yourself like that.”

“No, maybe not.” Yang shook her head, and gave Weiss a pat on the arm. “But I shouldn't be offloading all this heavy shit onto you either, not when it's already gotta be pretty awkward for you talking about this stuff given all the trouble my sister's caused you recently.”

“You're not your sister.” Weiss grabbed Yang's hand against her arm and held it there. “And you're not responsible for my weird hangups. You don't need to offer yourself as... penance, or tribute or something, for what your sister's body does to me on accident.”

“I know.” Yang pulled away, scratching the back of her head. “Look, I know this is a really weird way I've gone about this and I'm sorry I made you think that my motivations were purely out of contrition or whatever. God, this is hard,” she muttered under her breath. “I don't – Okay, how about this instead. Let's forget whatever weirdness happened last night, yeah? Fresh start. And in the spirit of honesty and new beginnings, I'd like to not only offer whatever comfort you need from the ravages of our roommates' raunchy smell or whatever, but also – and no pressure at all on any of this – ask you to go on a date, sometime.”

Weiss held a poker face as long as she could while also realizing that the fluttering in her stomach meant that yes, she did indeed somehow have a bit of a crush already on the incorrigible brute in front of her.

“Again, no pressure, I don't – I mean maybe I'm reading this wrong and if so, you know, keeping it status-quo would be fine too! I like just studying with you, and hanging out, and making fun of my idiot sister together, and sparring, oh! Nice hand-to-hand, by the way, I was surprised how good you actually are at it, Ruby never gives me a decent spar without her weapon, and-”

“Yang. Don't lie.” A pause. “You've never liked studying in your life.” And with that, she fought through her nerves to close the distance and softly brush her lips against Yang's. “But I'm flattered you'd pretend for my sake.”

When Ruby opened the door a minute later, she found them sparring again, but this time with huge grins across their faces that didn't go away even when she squealed in excitement and went dashing off to go gush to Blake (And, coincidentally, a very bemused Jaune) about how cute they were together. They both still had baggage to work through, but now, at least they also had each other.