Rosy Rooftops

The Sounds of Snow

Two Hours Later

Ruby lay back in her bed, drawing a deep breath. She still had to unpack most of her things, including the bedsheet and pillows. She resolved to do those first. She looked around her room – plain wallpaper, a single, dusty window, a giant pile of cardboard boxes, and some dilapidated wooden furniture. As she drew another deep breath, she began to cough from the dust accumulated in the air. She waved her hand in front of her face, stumbling towards the window. She threw it open and gasped in the hot, humid air from the outside world.

She hadn't noticed how late it had gotten, and was surprised to see that the moon was nearly at its apex. What surprised her more was that there was a voice coming from somewhere outside.

"Is somebody out there singing? At this hour?" She thought to herself, and began to listen in. From what she could tell, the singing seemed to be coming from above her. "I'm on the top floor, it must be someone on the roof. But what are they doing up there at this hour?" She closed the window softly and turned to exit her room, grabbing the keys off of her dresser. "This might be a good opportunity to meet my neighbors!"

After locking her door, she made her way up towards the rooftop, taking the stairs two at a time. She got more and more nervous with every step, before she eventually reached the door out to the rooftop. Yang's words echoed in her mind, whatever she had said about 'finding your soulmate' or something.

She opened the door to see a girl sitting on the edge of the roof, her white hair tied in a sideways ponytail. Ruby rubbed her eyes to make sure, and when she opened them, the tip of her hair was still dyed red. Ruby wanted to talk to her, but she didn't want to scare her off of the roof. She shut the door, making sure it made noise attracting the girl's attention.

Sure enough, it was none other than the waitress from the bar, sitting on the rooftop. "Oh sorry, did I scare you?" Ruby asked, pointing at the door. "With the door and all."

"Not at all, don't worry." Weiss looked closer at Ruby, "Aren't you the girl from the bar earlier?"

"Yeah, that's me. Sorry about my sister, she likes to show off in front of me." Ruby chuckled, "Could I sit down with you?"

"Sure, go right ahead." Weiss said, patting the spot next to her. "So what made you come up here?"

"I heard someone singing," Ruby replied, taking the seat next to Weiss, "I wanted to know who it was. I guess it was you."

"Sorry, did I wake you? I know it's late." Weiss replied, "Nobody's come up here in the past, since the room right below me is vacant, so I thought this place wouldn't bother anyone."

"Oh no you're good, I actually just moved into that vacant room." Ruby chuckled, "Oh- but don't worry about bothering me, you can keep singing if you want! It sounds really nice!"

"Alright, but if I do bother you please tell me." Weiss said, "I wouldn't want to disrupt you."

"Nah, don't worry. So when did you start singing?" Ruby scolded herself internally for the weak conversation starter

"I've always liked singing, and I wanted to sing as a career. Sadly, those jobs are hard to find and they take a while. That's why I work at that bar for now."

"Well at least the people there seem to like you." Ruby chuckled.

"I'll say. One of them dipped my hair in a mug of beer earlier, so it got all sticky and red. Said I needed some color in my life, or something. She was odd, and she wore this skimpy blue tank top. Her hair was bright orange as well I swear she was a living rainbow."

Ruby laughed, "I'm sure that turned out well!"

"She got kicked out. She was yelling something about 'prejudice against people with free spirits', it was quite the sight."

"She sounds like my sister..." Ruby sighed, "Sorry again for that".

"Don't worry about it. So why are you here in Downtown Vale? I heard you say you just moved in, did you not?"

"Oh, I'm attending the Lie Culinary School down the road, past Nora's Pancake Shop. My dream is to open my own bakery or coffee shop! My sister always joked that we could co-own it and call it the 'Xiao Rose Coffee Shop'. Sounds like its right out of a horribly written story if you ask me." Ruby laughed, "But I chose this apartment because it was so close to the school."

"A wise choice if you ask me." Weiss replied.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, staring out at the moon. The stars were barely visible behind the shroud of mist in the sky, but the moon shone brightly through. "If you want, you can keep singing. I wasn't lying when I said it sounded nice. It's like a private concert."

"I guess you have front row seats then."