It was admittedly hard to read her favorite book when there was so much noise drifting around the room.
On a Sunday afternoon, Blake normally would have been used to certain sounds filling her dorm room; Weiss' hair dryer was loud, but the heiress was kind enough to keep it stifled behind the bathroom door, and though Blake could still hear Yang's scroll as it played videos, the blonde kept her headphones plugged in to drown out most of the noise.
For once, it wasn't her partner or the heiress who was making the most noise, but her girlfriend.
Ruby laid in the middle of the floor, rolling around and giggling. Blake might have joined her if not for the other occupant there.
Zwei yipped and barked playfully, pouncing all over his owner, licking her face and wiggling into her arms. The girl's laughter was merry and it carried across the room with ease.
"Zwei! Haha, stop! That tickleeees!"
More laughter. More giggles. More delight for Ruby that Blake had no part in.
Her eyes had been dragging over the words of her book for the past ten minutes now, but her mind didn't absorb a single one of them - only those jovial sounds that were the result of a dog and not herself.
Without the bow to restrain them within the safety of their room, Blake's ears began to droop as she chewed the inside of her cheek. She couldn't shake that feeling of loneliness; her teammates were all around her, and so was her girlfriend.
But... she just felt like she was being ignored...
She quickly shook her head and snorted to herself.
No. I'm just being selfish. Zwei's been Ruby's dog for far longer than we've been dating. Of course she loves him. It's natural. She hasn't seen him in so long. I need to get over myself.
She tried not to glance over at the two of them wrestling playfully on the floor. Instead, Blake returned her focus to her book, and more or less forced herself to read it, something she'd never had to do before.
Ruby's chortles continued to ring loudly in her ears, and Blake's grip on the covers tightened; she couldn't help wondering if she'd ever made Ruby so happy.
A few minutes later, the hair dryer stopped and Weiss emerged from the bathroom, dressed casually for the evening. When Ruby noticed her partner was back, she sat up with the dog in her lap and addressed her.
"Oh, great! Weiss, do you think you and Yang could take Zwei out for his walk?" She knew how much Weiss loved to be with the dog, and chuckled as the heiress' eyes lit up.
"Well, I guess I've got no choice. I'll take care of it." She quickly slipped into a jacket and a pair of shoes before grabbing Zwei's leash, fastening it to his collar. Scooping the dog into her arms, she went to the beds and knocked on the edge of Yang's. "Come on, you oaf. Let's get in some exercise today rather than vegetating the rest of the evening."
Yang sat up and removed her headphones before jumping down.
"Yeah, alright! Let's go!"
Weiss scrutinized her and sighed.
"Put a coat on. It's cold outside."
"Weiss, come on. I think I'll be fine."
Yang merely put on some slippers before she headed to the door. Weiss heaved a sigh and followed, letting Zwei down to the floor as she slipped the leash around her wrist.
"Unless Yang drags us off somewhere, we'll be back in half an hour."
"Okay!" Ruby waved. "Have fun! Thanks, you guys!" She could hear their good-natured bantering even after the door had closed, and she chuckled to herself. "Those two'll never change..."
