En Garde! A RWBY White Rose Fanfiction

Chapter 28: Switching Places

This was supposed to be at least mildly enjoyable, Weiss complained to herself. Ruby really has become a lazy sack of potatoes. She turned around. "Ruby, hurry up! The art supplies are this way!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," the stumbling brunette said back from a few shelves away. "Sorry I don't feel like running in public."

The heiress froze. This was most certainly not the Ruby she knew and... tolerated, and she didn't like the change one bit. "I'm walking at an average human's pace. Who are you, and what have you done with Ruby Rose?" she snarled.

Ruby looked up from her shoelaces. "What? You're the one acting weird, coming to the supply store with me. You'd usually just send me off and be done with it. Do you really care so much about this project that you wanna supervise me? I'm not dumb enough to buy a tub of paint instead of a little bottle."

"I- well, it's true that I don't trust you amongst aisles of acrylic paint," Weiss admitted. "But that's not the point. What I meant is that you've been acting strangely all week. Don't think I haven't noticed."

"I..." For just a second, Ruby looked like she was caught taking a cookie out of the forbidden jar. "I'm still trying to help, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss argued. "Falling asleep during class is helpful?"

"I'll have you know I was just resting my eyes," Ruby countered. "You're not the only one who's been working their butt off, y'know."

That was when it finally clicked. Intelligent as she was, it took Weiss an entire week to realize that Ruby was over-exerting herself for the sake of supporting her fencing team. (Well, that was only part of the reason, but Weiss was too dense to consider the rest, for the sake of plot ;) ) 

"I think I've changed my mind," Weiss said hesitantly. "I'm calling Yang."

"What? Why?!" Ruby whined. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"No, but she's the only one I trust to get you home in one piece... Ironically," the heiress added under her breath while dialing Yang's number. It didn't take long for Ruby's overprotective sister to pick up.

"Weiss? Are you guys okay? Why the hell are you calling me and not Ruby?" she immediately started rambling.

"Slow down," Weiss replied calmly. "We're at the supply store, like I said we'd be. But I need you to come pick her up as soon as possible."

"What? Is she injured?!" Yang sounded increasingly worried.

"No," Weiss answered truthfully. "But I think she needs a nap before she can tackle our project with all her energy."

"I heard that!" Ruby exclaimed. "You really do think I'm a kid!"

Knowing better than to aggravate her, Weiss ignored Ruby's statement. "Just trust me," she added.

There was silence on the other end for a few moments. "Alright," Yang finally conceded. "If you're noticing it too, then I have to come get her. Tell her to stay put, or I'll have to bring the tracking device and squirt bottle."

Weiss laughed. "I'll be sure to tell her that. See you soon." She hung up and looked back at her friend. "Yang mentioned something about a tracking device and a squirt bottle, so don't go trying anything."

The brunette slouched in defeat. "I hate that squirt bottle," she grumbled. "Fine, you win. But you're waiting outside with me."

"We really have seemed to have switched roles," Weiss muttered.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing," Weiss replied loftily.

•••

"How is she?"

"Snug as a bug in a rug. Or a blanket, to be specific. I don't think she'd wake up even if there was an earthquake or something"

Weiss sighed in relief and put her phone down. At ease with Yang's report, she turned to the bag of supplies on her bed. It was time to get creative.

Ruby put up such a pathetic fight that Yang practically had to carry her onto Bumblebee, her motorcycle. Weiss was spot-on with predicting Ruby's lack of sleep and, before they parted ways, she strictly ordered the young girl not to get out of bed until the next morning. 

As such, Weiss tasked herself with beginning to design the poster. While she intended to remove the burden from the exhausted brunette, Weiss knew that Ruby wasn't going to stand by and let her do all the work. Too bad, Ruby.

The heiress smiled to herself and sorted all the papers she printed onto the poster board until she was satisfied. Then, she took out the glitter glue...

•••

Convinced that the poster met Ruby's creative standards well enough, Weiss put down her sharpie and leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh. She'd been so concentrated on her work that she'd lost sense of time. This was confirmed when she glanced at her digital clock. Midnight?! Drat! Looks like Ruby isn't the only one bending backwards to make ends meet.

Weiss made her way to the bathroom and pulled out her toothbrush. She better still be sleeping, the heiress thought to herself as she applied toothpaste and started brushing.

It would be just like her to force herself to sneak in something productive, judging by the sudden spike in her work rate. I never thought I'd see the day. I'm... Well, I'm not exactly pleased because it's affecting her physical and mental health, but it makes me feel like my own efforts are appreciated. ...Wait, I'm genuinely concerned about the well-being someone other than Blake, or my sister? Ruby really is rubbing off on me...

She looked at herself in the mirror. The icy eyes that always stared back at her seemed to be more of a clear, blue ocean. Maybe it was the lighting, or her mind was playing tricks on her, but her every feature seemed softer and more relaxed. Something had definitely changed in the cold blooded heiress, and while she couldn't put her finger on it, Weiss knew Ruby was to blame.

There was no reversing the transformation. Weiss' defenses were slowly melting, day by day, and all because of the efforts of one person.

AN: Hey guys! So sorry I got this to you a day late! I can't blame Savanna cuz she edited the chapter last night while I was still awake, I just never checked my phone. Anywho, my excuse is that I'm at this rly rad computer programming/3D printing camp that went from 9-4 every day this week, and I'd always take a nap afterwards cuz thinking rly exhausts your brain XD
Well, I hope you enjoy, and you'll get your next chapter on time next week. Author's promise!