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“Hey, Blake! You wanna spar with me next—“
Ruby trails off, her silver eyes narrowing slightly as she realises that Blake is very much not paying attention to her. With a huff, she glances toward where Yang was currently sparring with Nora and rolls her eyes.
Figures.
“Yang’s gonna ask you to marry her tonight.”
“That’s nice, Ruby- wait… what did you just say?!”
Ruby offers her friend nought but a deadpan stare as Blake tumbles off of the bench with an indignant sounding yelp, earning the attention of a confused Yang. Ruby bites her cheek, smirking as Blake clambers to her feet and waves awkwardly at Yang before turning to her with a sharp glare, black cat ears pinning against her skull irritably as she tries to brush herself off with a soft snort.
“I heard you.”
“Really? Because it kind of looked like you were too busy thirsting over my sister to hear me… thanks for that trauma, by the way. Definitely something I want to see.” Ruby quips, flopping unceremoniously into the seat beside Blake and grinning over at her teasingly. “You two are dating , Blake. I think you can stop pining now.”
“You know… I wasn’t aware that this was a case of “get a girlfriend, get one annoying little sister for free,” Ruby.”
“You saw me as a sister long before you were making out with Yang.” Ruby snorts, squealing when a strong arm wraps around her neck and pulls her into a headlock and a free hand begins to ruffle her hair. “Nooooooo! Blaaaaaaake! Stoooooooop!”
Ruby lets out an irritable grunt as she falls into her seat, brushing her hair out of her face to glare at her friend when Blake giggles softly, her amber eyes gleaming mischievously and her lips curling into an amused smile. Ruby pauses, her expression softening slightly as she recalls the tension that Blake had carried when she had first come back to them. She glances back at her sister, smiling softly when Yang looks over to them and winks playfully. Blake giggles, soft and giddy, to herself and Ruby feels her chest swell with affection for her.
“Hey.” Ruby murmurs softly, leaning into Blake’s side and wrapping her arms around her bicep to place her chin on Blake’s shoulder. “Guess what?”
“No. I refuse.”
Ruby snorts. “Nerd.” She teases, giggling when Blake butts their heads together affectionately. She smiles warmly and squeezes Blake’s arm. “We love you, y’know. It wasn’t the same without you.”
“Ruby…” Blake murmurs softly, lifting her hand to place it over Ruby’s wrist and squeezing affectionately. A small sniffle leaves her as she turns her head to press a gentle kiss to the top of Ruby’s head. “I missed you guys too.”
“It’s good to see you so happy… and I know you make Yang happy too.”
“... is this the part where you warn me against hurting Yang again?”
“Pfft. No.” Ruby snorts, pulling back to smile up at her friend when Blake gives her a curious look. “Look, I know you never meant to hurt my sister and honestly? I trust you and, more importantly, Yang trusts you and that’s enough for me.”
She pauses, her smile shifting to a playful smirk and she reaches out to boop Blake’s nose gently. “Besides… you’re too soft to actually want to hurt Yang. You’re, like, the softest soft that ever softed for the people you love, Blake. Especially my sister.”
“Oh, like you can talk. I’ve seen how you look at Penny.” Blake retorts, smirking slyly when Ruby begins to stutter and stumble over her words. “Gods, you’re adorable. Falling in love for the first time… so pure.”
“I’m not falling in love!”
“Uh-huh.”
“I just so happen to think that she’s very pretty, crazy smart and that she’s one of the best things to ever happen to me.” Ruby says defensively, crossing her arms with a stubborn pout as she turns away from Blake’s wide grin. “I mean… she’s my friend. It’s perfectly normal for me to get all tongue tied around her or for my heart to race whenever I think about her. It doesn’t mean anything that I wanna spend all of my time—“
“— with her and making her laugh and smile? That she’s the first and last thought you have each day?” Blake says with a gentle smile, her expression softening when Ruby stiffens. “Or that you feel like her heart might explode when you look at her because she’s become so important to you? And it certainly doesn’t mean a thing that all you want to do is be there for her and support her and make sure she knows just how special she is to you.”
“How did you-“
“Because that’s exactly how I feel about your sister.”
Oh.
Oh.
“Oh Gods… I love Penny.” Ruby groans, collapsing into Blake’s side and covering her face with her hands as Blake chuckles softly and pats her head. “How did I just realise…?”
“Welcome to the club.”
“What do I do now? I’ve never— I don’t know— I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Well…” Blake says with a heavy sigh, her expression distant as she turns to watch Yang with a sad smile. “Take it from somebody that had to learn the hard way… there is absolutely nothing wrong with telling her how you feel. If you love her, you should talk to her. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way about you… Penny wouldn’t let that change your friendship and neither would you.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Blake.” Ruby mumbles, clearing her throat as her cheeks begin to burn. She glances up at Blake, offering her a hesitant smile and cocking her head curiously. “Any advice on how to do it?”
“No.”
“You’re dating my sister! You’ve gotta have some advice for me!”
“Just because I’m dating Yang, it doesn’t mean I know how I did it!”
Ruby groans and lets herself flop sideways into Blake’s lap, whining miserably as Blake laughs softly and begins to play with her hair.
As if things weren’t already complicated. Now she has to deal with romance on top of trying to save the world with her friends…
Why can’t anything ever be simple?