ARGENT. (ap)

           ALRIGHT   , fam. I’ll be sending an ask into the ml and stuff right after this, but I’ve moved over pretty much everything I need aside from reblogged headcanons and whatnot ! 

          I’m sure I’m far from through with this blog, as I’ll be reblogging this post a few times and getting to important inbox things... Prooobably forgot some stuff in my excitement... But either way, consider this blog officially  ARCHIVED  ! 

          Next month I’ll have been playing Ruby for a year, and I can’t help but feel a little emotional even though I’m not going anywhere. It’s just been a real wild ride. 

 well – yeah. we should just…avoid socializing with almost everyone else, 

           SEEING   as the event’s ending tonight and we’re on the cusp of a fresh new meme day, i can’t think of a better time to archive this blog and move over to my new one !! 

     we should just…not socialize a whole month

petaltrail said: spare pistachio blake… spare pistachio…

   just hands over the whole bag

          “Oh yeah? Pretty sure that I’ll love them a lot, right? It’s really lovely that you’re so confident in what you’re saying, Ruby.“

     Honestly, this bit of wordplay was more of an accident than anything– but apparently they’re running with it now, so he’ll just play it off super smooth-like and such! And it looks like it’s cheering her up, and that’s what really matters. With the purchase finally made, he took the bag of goods with one hand as the other went around her shoulder, leading her on out of the store so the customer can be spared from this nonsense. He can’t stop smiling though, his hand keeping a pretty firm grip on her shoulder as he spoke up once more.

          ”Well, here’s my hunch… I get the feeling I’ll love them as much as you do, Ruby. … In fact, I’m pretty confident about it.”

        IT   was already enough of a relief to just be away from what felt like a bunch of prying eyes ( which, yeah, that might mostly be in her head... ), but feeling his arm around her just sealed the deal. Ruby’s pretty guilty of holding a metric ton of tension in her shoulders without even realizing it, but he had an uncanny way of making it slide right off with touch alone. She glances up as he speaks, and she can’t resist breaking out into a wider grin of her own; she’d recognize that smile a mile away, his super-sincere, my-face-is-gonna-get-sore smile. Maybe he’s just saying it to make her feel better, maybe he’s not ‘there’ yet emotionally... And that’s totally okay !  It’s not like she planned on saying something that serious to begin with, not so off-handedly... 

        But he’s taking it in stride, and he looks... Well, pretty over the moon about it, actually. With another content hum, she rests her head briefly into his side --- her arm wrapping around his lower back as she offers an affectionate squeeze.               

         ❛ oh cool! i’m gonna kiss all my homies then! you get one too, homie – ❜ he presses a kiss to her forehead.

         ❛ hey, is kissing the homies gay? ❜

     Oz just smiles sadly as Ruby grapples with the sad reality of their new situation, or his anyway. It why, publicly at least, he tried to keep all of his relationship purely professional. Of course that didn’t even work to some extent. She found out who was close to him, and twisted those she could manipulate and reach. She targeted Beacon. Of course she knew his sentimentality, how he felt about his school, the haven, home, and pride he allowed himself through it.

     It’s all inevitable… or so it feels. Now, with the courage he’s received through Oscar’s actions and words, he’s ready to try and stand up for himself- he just doesn’t want to drag civilians into it, unnecessary casualties. He’s caused enough of those for more than one lifetime.

     A chuckle eventually escapes his lips at her ‘suggestion’ despite the slightly shocked silence in which it was initially received. “That’d be very kind of you Ruby, but I’m not certain that’s a viable solution either.” The headmaster isn’t about to pull any of team rwby into the crossfire of this particular grudge, (though he doesn’t expect them to just sit back at Salem’s presence either, that’s different). 

    “But that’s just it. It’s not about me being safe from her, or even trying to turn the tables and find a solution that gets under her skin instead. It’s about these people being safe.” He sighs. “I don’t want to quit yet by any means, but.. I might look into making sure my shifts aren’t too long or frequent.” The less of a connection there is, the safer they’ll all be. He hopes.

     “It’ll be alright.” ‘I’m used to it.’ remains unspoken.

             ❛   I understand it...  ❜   RUBY   begins --- carefully, as if tiptoeing over what may or may not be an active landmine,   ❛   but... It still doesn’t seem right.   ❜

         There wasn’t really any way around it, though, was there ? This is, socially, her worst nightmare --- being confronted with a situation where there’s... Not really much that can be said or suggested to alleviate the source of someone’s negative emotions. Particularly when that source was a woman that only barely resembled a human at this point, emotionally; particularly when that source was also the source of many a childhood nightmare, even if she’d been unaware at the time. She wonders if she’s plagued Ozpin’s dreams, too, but finds any answer aside from ‘yes’ to be highly unlikely --- it’s an unnecessary thought, aside from making her chest tighten. 

Though she gave off the air of someone quite relaxed, Neopolitan’s narrowed eyes were quickly (and obviously) analyzing the other girl’s body language. She was tense– as she ought to have been. At any moment Neopolitan could change her mind and attack, the girl ought to have known that well enough. So, she was naturally on edge. Yet, the way that the girl did not look exactly at Neopolitan, but something near her…

Oh, something was certainly afoot, and Neopolitan was now very much intent on learning what was going on.

Was she waiting on something? Or, was she trying not to look at something? Neopolitan was quite sure that no one was behind her. Even if there were, she could have taken both Ruby and whatever individual dared to attempt to sneak up on her. There was a very distinct reason that Ruby Rose was walking about these apartments, whether she lived here or not, and Neopolitan would be discovering what it was.

So, with a wag of her index finger, Neopolitan’s smirk widened. No, no, no.

She pointed to Ruby once more with the same finger, then made a show of gesturing to their surroundings. It was a clear question– ‘What are you doing here?’ Of course, Neopolitan did not expect a direct answer, but that was all part of the game.

           SHE   really doesn’t like this.

           Despite the very real tension of the situation --- or perhaps because of it --- Ruby can’t help the exasperation that makes its way onto her features. Her shoulders, her face --- they all sag as if to say ‘are you kidding me?’   ❛   None. Of your. Business. Don’t even worry about it.   ❜   Laid-back words... spoken through gritted teeth. 

           She wouldn’t let her play ‘the Cinder game’. She wouldn’t give her any additional ammo, not in the form of people she cared about; if Neo really intended on getting up to no good, on enacting some kind of... Grudge on Torchwick’s behalf... Then she’d have to settle for keeping it between the two of them. Ruby’s unoccupied hand is thrown up to gesture at their surroundings in a similar, albeit more exaggerated, way.  ❛   Whatever I’m doing here can’t be more interesting than what  YOU’RE  doing here. Look, the way I see it, we’ve got two options. Either we can pretend we neeever saw each other... Or we’ll take this somewhere else.   ❜   Crescent Rose is waved up and down briefly for more emphasis --- careful not to graze the ceiling with steel. Of course Neo didn’t fall for her look-literally-anywhere-else tactic, what was she thinking--- ??  But if she was stupid enough to try that, she might think Ruby’s just stupid enough to pick a fight with her ‘just because’. 

“ if i did ‘plenty’ of anything, it was in me holding them back. “

he doesn’t want to be saying this, but, at the same time, if he didn’t, then why were the words spilling from his mouth in the way that they did? “ how can you not understand that i let the relic get stolen? after all we did to get it? “ something boils from deep within him, molten hot and thick like syrup. “ it’s just been reassurance after reassurance. “ he says, all while trying to hold back the burning sensation that wells in his throat, nails digging into calloused palms. “ don’t you hate it? how we take five steps forward and get kicked ten back? because of plans not panning out the way they intended to? because of– because of people like me who can’t even imagine how they’d ever be able to keep up with you all? “

another long inhale, it appears to almost be painful in its execution, especially with the slow, drawn out way he lets himself breathe out. something hurts, oh yes, something hurts, something that smells of pride, of something saline hidden in the corner of his eyes. “ who doesn’t by this point? why– “ with an audible “fuck” as the child’s voice cracks, he breathes in again, rubbing quickly at his face before breaking eye contact with the girl before him. “ why won’t… “ 

“ … why won’t anyone let me say sorry, ruby? “

and why won’t saying sorry make him feel any better?

              ❛   ... Of course I do.   ❜   IT’S   spoken so quietly and after such a long pause that it was easy to miss --- unless, of course, you were Oscar and you were expecting some kind of acknowledgment. The moment she’d begun to hear his voice waver, she had to look away; she continues to look away, gaze firmly fixed on a crack in the pavement. If she looks up and sees him waiting for some kind of answer --- or worse, expecting a platitude --- it’ll just make her eyes sting more than they already are.   ❛   Of course I hate it. Of course I understand what happened with the relic. You think I don’t ?   ❜

         There’s a sharpness in her tone that she rarely uses with friends --- one she doesn’t think she’s ever used with Oscar --- but there’s no stopping it. Each sentence, each reminder of what they’ve just been through --- and how far they came just to get kicked right in the gut, again --- is another hammer to the dam she’s carefully built up. That dam which, incidentally, has been growing weaker and weaker ever since she’s returned to Spirale. She’s already slung barbed words in her mom’s direction, someone she hasn’t spoken with since --- why not add to the list ?   ❛   How can I not know exactly what position we’re in ?  What, you think... You think you’re the only one that makes mistakes ?  Oscar --- half the things that went wrong in Atlas... They wouldn’t even be going wrong if I hadn’t screwed up before you even met us. Neo, Cinder, Tyrian... All the damage they’ve caused, the people we’ve lost... If you wanna play the blame game, I promise you --- I’d win.   ❜

“ i barely did anything. “

a straight forward, out of nowhere statement. oscar’s gaze seems different compared to past encounters, a harder glint in his eyes, one hand clenched firmly into a fist while the other curls and presses itself against his head. some would interpret it as confusion, others would perhaps say anger, but the most accurate way to describe it would be… melancholic, resigned. “ you know that. “ he tacks on the accusation with a certain ire, hazel eyes looking down at his hands. ( their hands? ) 

a slow, purposeful inhale gives pause to the conversation, the sigh that the boy exhales seeming to belong to that of someone centuries older than him. “ so… please. “ he starts slowly, the frown growing all the more prevalent across cherubic features. it doesn’t suit him– it doesn’t, but he’s been doing it more often than any of his other, hasn’t he?

“ don’t lie to me just to make me feel better. “

( @petaltrail​. )

           HE   speaks with such certainty that it almost sounds like an accusation. Her lips part as if to reply, but it’s clear he’s not finished --- and she’s a little stunned that this is a conversation they’re having at all. Perhaps it’s better this way... That he feels comfortable enough to bring it up at all, if it’s really what he’s feeling. But something about the way it’s said... Why does it make her feel angry to hear it ? Why can she feel her brows sloping sharply downward when he’s... just being honest ?