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It was just by chance that it caught Ruby’s eye at all. The gossip rag was tucked away in the wrong part of the magazine stand, in the corner, as if somebody had been carrying it around while browsing, thought better of the purchase, and just kind of… slipped it in with some of the weapons catalogues.
Ruby was actually pretty shocked at how quickly her mood flashed from “amiable” to “annoyed”, but in all fairness, it was probably just that one straw that broke the Grimm’s back. Her jaw jutted stubbornly, her entire body tense no matter what breathing exercises ran through her head - drilled into her head by Goodwitch, practically her conscience at this point - the newest edition of Weapons Monthly forgotten in her hands. That… that book of lies was seriously the last thing she wanted to see on her afternoon off!
She looked away, crossing her arms and glaring at something else. Anything else. It was like she couldn’t escape! Every time, shoved in her face… By this point, she wanted to strangle something. Or explode it. Either would have been good, and it was probably a good thing that Crescent Rose was in pieces for upgrades, or she might have had a lot of explaining to do to Professor Ozpin about why she’d decided to wage personal war on the Grimm milling in the Emerald Forest.
Ruby's eyes flickered back to the magazine, helpless to deny herself, no matter how frustrated it made her.
Beacon Exposed: Schnee Heiress’ Secret Squeeze! Find out more on Page 10!
Ruby exhaled sharply, muttering beneath her breath. She was not going to capitulate. She was not going to capitulate -
Of course, if Weiss was here, she’d be huffing something about poor impulse control, how Ruby was just asking to get angry. Just like so many times before, she would have advised to ignore the stupid photos and all the lies that went with them. And maybe it might have been easy - all Ruby would have had to do was look across and see the small smile Weiss reserved just for her, and everything else would just… melt away.
Unfortunately, when Ruby had mentioned a shopping trip into Vale, Weiss had heard the words “Weapons Weekly” and had mysteriously vanished with Blake, so this time, she wasn’t there to help. And no matter how upset it made her, how useless it made her feel... Ruby couldn’t stand not knowing - not when it came to Weiss.
Ruby snatched the magazine up with a defeated groan, giving the newsagency a furtive look over her shoulder. Once satisfied that absolutely nobody cared that a teenage girl was picking up a gossip rag, Ruby flicked through to page ten, muttering rebelliously under her breath all the while.
When her eyes fell on the article, she couldn’t quite silence the noise of disgust she made at the back of her throat.
"Cardin? Really?” Ruby asked, looking over the filmy, indistinct photographs that accompanied the article. She remembered that mission - Grimm had erupted from a shipping container down at the docks, and Teams RWBY and CRDL were the first on the scene.
The photo had Weiss and Cardin standing close together, the chaos and confusion of the fight going on around them conveniently cropped out. Weiss’ expression was intense as she stared up at Cardin, and that was true enough. But, if Ruby remembered correctly, she’d been threatening to give Cardin a lobotomy with Myrtenaster, loudly claiming it would vastly improve his personality.
She certainly hadn’t been gazing at him with hearts in her eyes like the writer of the article was claiming!
Ruby threw the magazine aside, fervently wishing she hadn’t given in to impulse, wishing she’d learn her lesson already. The story was just more of the same garbage - a few blurry shots, a page and a half of lies, a secret inside source. If Ruby had her way, she’d get her hands on whoever that supposed source was and -
She sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. And what? The entire thing was a mess, and Ruby wasn’t sure when things had gotten so… out of hand.
It wasn’t exactly like it had ever been hers to deal with, anyway. Weiss hadn't exactly bitten the bullet and come clean with the press, and while Ruby fully supported Weiss' stance that the world could keep its nose out of their private lives, somehow things had gotten to this stage, and she hadn’t even talked about releasing a statement to get everything cleared up.
And as high and mighty as Weiss liked to pretend she was, getting shoved into fabricated, torrid love triangles with everyone at Beacon pissed her off, too.
Ruby's thoughts turned gloomy, her anger losing colour, fading. They’d been together nearly whole two months now. Wasn’t it time to just… make it public? To put an end to all of it? Ruby swallowed, unable to push aside the strangling feeling of worthlessness and defeat rising up in her chest. Was there something wrong with people knowing that they were dating?
Apparently, she’s okay with the whole of Vale thinking she’s dating everyone except her actual girlfriend. Why?
Ruby left the newsagency with her magazines, her shoulders heavy and her mind a blur of questions and doubts. Weiss kept saying she had her reasons for keeping it on the low, and Ruby tried to trust her. They were teammates, they were friends, and she trusted Weiss with her life! But this... it seemed almost cruel to have to watch. To know the truth and...
Ruby wanted nothing more desperately than to shout her love for Weiss from Vale's every rooftops, to smother her girlfriend in the affection she craved. This secrecy was killing her inside, so maybe... as much as Ruby wished it wasn't so, but it was probably time they had a serious talk about all this.