#dug through my clothes putting aside my chip outfit

[rumiraclemi]

just sat here and realized jrwi has Literally taken over my life. i am not even slightly joking.

[denimwrites-archive]

The Tailor

Prompt: "Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is No!" from a random generation website thing. Fandom: Marvel Pairing: Deadpool X Reader Summary: You take care of Deadpool after he comes to your apartment in pieces, then he's off hurtling into danger again, what the hell are you going to do with him? He really needs a child leash. Word Count: 2,045 Warnings: Blood and inferences of adult themes? Maybe some swearing? Idk it's Deadpool, he's going to be crude. A/N: This is my first time writing Deadpool, and my first time breaking the fourth wall (I'm not even sure I really did it right oops), so please be gentle. I know the ending is pretty sucky but I tried. I hope you enjoy the Merc with a mouth, but who wouldn't?

~~~ 

You heard a frantic knocking on your apartment door. You blearily wiped the sleep from your eyes and threw the covers off of you before sighing and making your way towards the pounding. When you were finally able to unlock the door and work the handle, the sight that met your eyes was not a surprising one.

A man in a red suit covered in blood and riddled with holes limped into your apartment without a word. You were finally starting to wake up, so you headed to the kitchen to grab an ice pack for the wounded merc. After turning on the coffee pot you returned to find Wade laying on your couch with one of his arms draped over his eyes. You placed the ice on his stomach where the worst of the damage seemed to be.

He hissed slightly as the cold touched his mending skin, but relaxed as the ice pack worked to numb the area. You returned to the kitchen and began to make some semblance of a breakfast. You searched through your cupboards for something to eat, and found some easy muffin mix. You added the water and some extra chocolate chips before pouring your concoction into a non-stick cake pan, because it was too early for the complexity of muffin tins. You preheated the oven and poured your guest and yourself some coffee while you waited.

When you returned to the living room, Wade was still in his earlier position, but the ice pack had moved farther south *wink*. You shook your head with a slight laugh and placed his mug on the coffee table. You mentioned that you were making breakfast, and he grumbled acknowledgement. You patted his arm and returned to the kitchen upon the beeping of the oven. You slid in the pan of muffin-cake, and set the timer to 15 minutes.

You peeked at Wade in the living room again to see he was tentatively moving his healing muscles. You wished you could do more for him, but he said he didn't want you to get hurt. You went to your room and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, then put them in the bathroom which you tried to organize slightly.

You looked at the muffin-cake, and after the toothpick test, considered it ready. You put some on a plate and returned to the living room to give it to Wade. He was gingerly sipping the coffee, and you saw his eyes perk up when he saw the food. He ate like he was starving. "I guess your stomach is healed then," you joked. Wade shook his head and said something unintelligible due to his face-stuffing.

You gave him a look and he swallowed before saying, "Stomach was fine, intestines were torn to shreds though." He quickly inhaled the rest of your muffin-cake. You even ended up "giving" him the rest of your piece, meaning he stole it while you went to check that you turned off the oven. When you returned to find your piece missing you just shook your head.

You told him to take a shower, and that you'd have more food ready when he was done. He gingerly got off the couch and slowly moved to the bathroom. It was then that you remembered the sad state of your pantry, so you grabbed the phone-book and found a mexican restaurant that delivered. You ordered a taco platter and some chimichangas (both for Wade, since he seemed to eat more when he was healing), and you decided to splurge on your favorite mexican dish.

You heard Wade singing some Rihanna in the shower, so you knew it was okay to grab his suit off of the bathroom floor. When you inspected it you saw that the damage was extensive, but you tried to patch the holes you could. You fixed his mask first, since you knew he would throw a bitch-fit if he noticed it gone. After it was repaired you quickly returned it to the bathroom where Wade was now doing a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. You chuckled thinking of the music video-esque montage that was no doubt going on in his head.

When you were halfway done with the second leg of his suit, you heard the water turn off. You continued to work, and had moved on to fixing the torso of the suit when you heard Wade clear his throat behind you. You glanced back at him and said, "Enjoy your shower, Red?"

"Yeah, although you're going to need some more shampoo."

"You don't even have hair!" you exclaimed laughing slightly. Then you heard a knocking at the door. "Go get your food, Douchepool." He clapped excitedly before sprinting to the door and answering it.

You heard a brief exchange and a gasp of outrage before the door slammed. You sighed and put your head in your hands. There goes another restaurant that you can't order from again. When the smell of heavenly spices hit your nose you looked up to see Deadpool offering you a box as an olive branch. You took it and dug in, Wade doing the same.

You were halfway done with your Mexican meal when you heard Wade burp. You glanced at him to see that he already finished the taco platter. He noticed your gaping expression and smirked, "You may swallow more than flies if you keep your mouth open like that," the Merc teased.

You quickly shut your mouth and blushed slightly, returning to eating your food while Wade chuckled at his crude joke. It remained relatively silent even as you finished your take out and returned to Wade's tattered suit. He watched you quietly as you repaired the tears and tried to make it have some semblance of its original quality.

You held up the suit looking over your work, and smiled to yourself. Although fixing Wade's suit was quite annoying, it was definitely strengthening your sewing ability. You had actually made yourself an apron the other week. Yes, an apron isn't the hardest thing to make, but you enjoyed the challenge just the same.

You ran and put his suit in your washer on its gentlest setting. Although you had improved, your stitching still wasn't the most secure in the world. It was mostly just a bandaid until Wade could get another suit made. When the washer chimed you tossed the suit in your dryer for a few minutes.

You started to clean up the messy Mexican containers, and handed Wade his mismatched, but whole, suit when the dryer was done. He nodded in thanks before heading to the bathroom to change back into his outfit. When you finished cleaning in the kitchen and returned to your living room you noticed a Hello Kitty sticky note on your couch with a little heart on it with "W.W.W." underneath it. You looked around to notice that your front door was open. You slowly closed it and returned to the living room.

Sighing, you looked at the time. You didn't even know what time it was when Wade first started pounding on the door, but it was almost six in the morning now. You sighed again and decided to take a shower with what was left of the hot water.

Jumping in you wash and go to grab the shampoo before you remember Wade used all of it. Grumbling, you continued to wash away the rude awakening and the grime from Red's suit. You stepped out of the shower and realized you hadn't grabbed any clean clothes. Seeing the sweats you loaned to Deadpool, you shrugged them on before plopping yourself in front of the TV.

You mindlessly flipped through channels for about an hour, and finding nothing good to watch, you decided to do some more cleaning. As you tidied your apartment, you heard another knocking on the door. You looked at the clock to see that it was almost eight and decided it probably wasn't a mass-murderer so you opened the door to be proven wrong.

"Heya, toots," the Merc greeted before moving into your apartment for the second time that morning. You internally groaned at the sight of his once again mangles suit. You gave him the are-you-serious-right-now look, and he sheepishly smiled. You just shook your head at him and went back to cleaning your apartment. You had grabbed a book off of the floor when you noticed that he tracked blood into your apartment.

That was the last straw, the other tenants already complained about Wade's pounding and yelling, but now you were going to have to pay to get the carpets cleaned in both your apartment and the hallways outside. You dropped the book you had picked up and walked to your bedroom as calmly as you could. "(Y/N)? Hey, come on, it's not that bad. The other guy looks a hell of a lot worse. I mean he doesn't have an awesome suit like I do, but I mean who other than me could pull this off?"

[There are quite a few other supers who could pull that off actually, including but not limited to Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Black Widow, Daredevil, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Green La-]

"Hey, narrator, get off my back will you? You're the one who had me say that. And how dare you bring him up. You know how much shame he brings me," Wade rambled to no-one in particular. "I was talking you you, you son of a bitch! Don't tell them I wasn't talking to anyone." [He continued to rant to me, but this story is about you, so let's get back to that shall we?]

You made it to your room and... went to close the door, but there was Wade; with that look on his masked face, like everything was just dandy. You couldn't take the fact that he came to you when he needed help and when you weren't needed he just cast you aside. He said it was for your protection, but it felt more like a slap in the face. So you returned the favor with a swift kick to the nuts, before slamming the door closed.

You wanted to be there for him, with all of his favorite snacks and to distract him when his skin hurt and to reassure him that the world was real and that you loved him. But, oh no, he had to go and be a dick and protect you, because you know you can't kick ass on your own. "Well, I guess I showed him," you muttered. [That's right, go you! You can handle your own.]

You heard a tentative knocking on your door as you silently fumed. "Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is no!" you shouted through the door. You heard him sigh before he started knocking again. You were not going to open it, you vowed.

The knocking continued for some time, in which you decided to maybe give him another chance. I mean how was he supposed to know how frustrated you were? You never really showed that you were annoyed by his actions, so you supposed that he deserved at least an explanation of your outburst.

[Yep, that's totally what you decided, of your own free will. I wasn't bribed to ensure you gave Deadpool another chance, no sir. Not a chance. *Munches on cookies with Deadpool's face*]

You opened the door slightly, peeking your face out to see Wade sitting with his back to the door. He looked up at you with hopeful eyes before scrambling to his knees with his hands together ready to beg forgiveness. You smiled at his gesture, and just held out a hand. He grabbed it and you pulled him up off the floor and into a hug.

You pulled him close and tried to convey that you weren't really mad at him, but that you cared a lot about him and didn't want to lose him. He held you close and it was a nice moment.

Until the explosion happened...

... JK you and Deady came to an agreement where he worked less and spent time cuddling with you while watching Netflix. Chill may or may not happened.

[pixiealtaira]

I Don’t Leave Home Without

I missed the 4th..because the 4th is of course just one of those days....so here is day 4

Pairing: eventual Elliot/Kurt, but not really relationship at at the start

warning: not really friendly to anyone sharing the loft with Kurt

Elliot answered the frantic knocking on his door.  He hadn’t been home long; having worked an early shift at the coffee shop he was currently working at.  He didn’t plan to be home long either.  He wanted to get to campus and be able to get some research done for a paper before attending class.  It was an advantage having only afternoon classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays…and his only evening class that night. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were much more packed…with classes scattered throughout the day and no time to really head home between them.

Elliot opened to the door to…Kurt.  He was pretty sure the bedraggled sad creature in front of him was Kurt, at least. The boots were Kurt’s.  The hair was his color, even though it looked like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket and been covered in bucket of muddy water.  His eyes were red and puffy.  His face was even red.  His clothing was a mess, wet and muddy and possibly even torn up on one side.

“Kurt?”

“Can I come in?”  Kurt asked in the smallest voice he’d ever heard from the other man.

“Please do.”  Elliot said.

Kurt slid through the opening and dropped a bag he was carrying and then just dropped, himself. Elliot closed the door and dropped to the ground beside him.   Kurt collapsed completely against his side.  Elliot wrapped his arm around Kurt and just held him for a while.  Kurt didn’t seem to be crying, but Elliot seriously felt like the entire ability to keep itself up just left Kurt’s body the moment he put his arm around him.

Finally Kurt spoke.

“I’d have called first, but I don’t have my phone…or my keys, or my wallet, or even MY bag.”

“Kurt, what happened?”

Kurt’s head just fell against Elliot’s shoulder, like whatever was keeping it upright was cut.

“So, I had a huge presentation at school today.  We were to take a play, design costumes for it, make a costume, and perform a scene in said costume.  We had to present the costumes we designed like we would do so when applying for a job, that part was today.  The acting part is Friday.  So yesterday I stayed late on campus, finishing the last touches of the design panels, making sure each character had a drawing. I included accessories and footwear. This is so much of my grade this semester in this class, Elliot.  So much of my grade.”

“Anyway, Blaine was mad. He and Sam and the girls wanted to go out and go clubbing and he wanted me to go with them. They came and found me at the school when I wasn’t home by the usual time, even though I’d told them where I’d be and why. He tossed things around, ruined a panel for one of the costumes at the school and then stomped out screaming that I was ignoring our relationship and spouting off all sorts of fantasized reasons… from I was staying late to meet another guy to I was staying late to meet up with a teacher to show him how well I could earn a grade to I was telling teachers they needed to flunk him because he was better than I am at everything and it was the only way I could compete with him. So I ended up at the school even longer.  I left everything on campus after that, though, except my notebook and write up, which I needed to add to and print out. I got home not much before midnight and no one was home yet.  I stayed up, got my presentation outfit ready, and finished up the write up.  I printed it out just before two am.  No one was home yet.  I tidied up and put my bag together.  I set my bag right next to the door so all I’d have to do was grab it in the morning. I set my alarm clock so that I’d be able to be up and out the door with plenty of time to make it to campus even if everything ran late. Then I went to bed.”

“I heard them come back at some point; they were so loud trying to be quiet.  Blaine came in and whined he was horny and I told him to go take care of it himself. It was way too late and I had an important day at school that I had to be up early for. He went out and spent the night with Sam in the living area watching TV.  However…while bugging me he turned off my alarm.  I woke up an hour after my alarm was supposed to go off.  I got up, put on coffee and popped in toast, showered and got dressed in my presentation outfit since I would have no time to change at school. Things should have gone fine.”

Elliot tucked Kurt closer to his side.

“I made my cup of coffee and headed out to the living room where Blaine and Sam were crashed to clean up a little bit.  There were beer bottles lying around and bowls of half eaten cereal and bags of chips that were spilling all over.  I picked up one of the bowls, and was picking the other up, when Blaine yelped and stood up fast, pushing me aside as he dashed for the bathroom to throw-up.  Sam woke and dashed after him. Apparently, Blaine can’t throw-up by himself, it makes him sad.  Bowl two was knocked so it covered my pants as well as two half empty beers.  I didn’t cry. I just walked to my room and stripped down.  I smelt like sour milk and beer, my outfit was ruined. I changed into an outfit I had also considered and started to living room to pick up my coffee I’d set down.  I’d just picked up my coffee when Blaine came back into the living room. He pushed me out of the way so he could collapse on the couch.  He pushed me by the arm holding the coffee.  I ended up covered again, this time by scalding hot coffee.”

“I screamed.  I didn’t even scream at him, I just screamed.  God it hurt so bad.”

Kurt pulled his legs up towards his chest.  He looked so defeated and so crushed.

“Sam started yelling first. Yelling about how horrid I was to not have gone with Blaine when he wanted me to and how selfish I was to put classes before my boyfriend and how much a bitch I was being yelling at them then just because I was too uptight and had to big a stick in my ass to go out and have fun.  Blaine joined in.  He yelled about not having time for him, not focusing on him, not helping him with his things, trying to make him look bad by getting better grades, and about how I should be trying to support him and how I should praise him to the teachers. Then he went on to start yelling about personal habits as I walked into the bedroom to change again.  I had no other outfits set out.  I grabbed the slacks from my grey suit, however the rest of the suit needed to be cleaned due to Blaine and Sam messing around last week with squirt guns filled with colored water so it was out.  And I was in pain.  So I pulled out the softest turtleneck I own and a cream colored sweater, also very soft yarn and I dressed again. I had ten minutes to make it to the subway to catch the last train that might get me there on time. I switched all my stuff into my coat pocket…keys, wallet, money, phone, IPod.  Everything.  I walked out and went to grab my bag…and Rachel wandered over and spilled her coffee all over my coat as she tried to drunkenly hug me.  I didn’t even think about the items in my pocket…just screamed and removed the coat and hung it on the coat rack.  I told everyone that I expected the room cleaned up but I would take care of the clothing items when I got home and I was utterly ashamed to know any of them at that moment.  Santana came flailing out of Rachel’s room screaming at me again and I grabbed the bag by the door and left.”

“It shouldn’t have been much a problem.  In the front pocket of my satchel is my extra subway pass and tucked in my history of British theater book is some extra cash and in the bag is an extra key.  Except, it wasn’t my bag.  It was Santana’s dance bag.  She left it on the other side of the door when they came in last night, I guess, and I didn’t pay close enough attention when I pick up the bag this morning. I mean, they are essentially the same bag, it was a two for one sale and so I bought two and Santana took over the extra, but I still should have realized it didn’t weigh nearly enough when I grabbed it.”

“I was halfway to the subway stop when I realized I didn’t have my pass.  I stopped and scooted off to the side of the sidewalk so I could look through the bag to pull out my extra, when a couple walking by just went nuts. He was hollering at her and they started fighting and I tried to move but couldn’t get by and I ended up slammed against the building and it tore up my sweater and shirt and I know my arm was actually scraped up… and then I finally got out of being cornered against the building by the fighting people when I got hit by a bicyclist and pushed into the street.  Luckily it was between two parked cars, but I landed in the water still in the gutter and then got drenched by a car driving by who hit the puddle.  And I hit one of the cars hard enough with my head as I fell to activate the car alarm.  That however did cause the people fighting to stop.  So I pulled myself up and decided to walk but my head was spinning and I didn’t want to go home and the only address I could remember was yours, so here I am. I dug enough money out of the bag to take a bus to a few blocks away. So now I’m going to flunk out and Blaine and Rachel will have won.”

And with that Kurt broke down in tears.  Elliot looked closer at his friend and could see where he’d been pushed against the building and the scrapes on his side, a few which he suspected were bleeding. The head injury and hot coffee scalding worried him.  He tucked Kurt against his side and pulled out his phone.  Dani knew a girl who worked at a clinic who might have advice for if he should bring him into someplace or not.  His call to Dani had him checking Kurt’s head by softly running his fingers through his hair as he cried and deciding to take him in.  He called his teachers and left messages that he might not make it to class, he had to take a friend to the ER.  He called Dani again and asked her to go fetch the items from Kurt’s coat pocket.  Finally he looked up NYADA and called the first number he found, which after three transfers landed him talking to the Dean and explaining that Kurt had been injured while caught in a fight on the street and that he would provide documentation from the ER, but that he didn’t feel comfortable letting Kurt go to the school first, due to a potential concussion.  The Dean was happy to reschedule his presentation for another day, as long as it wasn’t too far away in time, provided the paperwork checked out.

As Elliot bundled Kurt down the stairs and into a cab, he briefly considered calling someone at the loft and informing them.  Then he looked at Kurt’s clothing and decided he’d leave that decision to Kurt later.

He hadn’t considered that later wouldn’t be till the next day.  That he would actually take Kurt to his home, concussion confirmed and with orders to monitor him for 48 hours, and help Kurt reschedule his presentation in two days for Thursday morning and feed him and have Dani over for a movie night/wake Kurt every few hours all-night-a-thon and then have cooked breakfast and called Kurt’s and his professors for yet another day off before Santana would call to see if by any chance Kurt was there, as he never came home the night before and she vaguely remembered Dani at the loft. No one called when he convinced Kurt to stay another few days after a dizzy spell right after his successfully given presentation, or asked when Dani went by to gather clothing for those next few days and the laundry Kurt was stressing about. Even then, Santana was the only one who asked about him until Friday, when Blaine and Sam suddenly realized they hadn’t seen Kurt for a few days.  Rachel never even noticed he was gone if her behavior when Kurt returned Monday after school, like usual, was anything to go by.

When Blaine moved out with Sam after Kurt put his foot down once again and that space made Blaine and Kurt’s relationship flounder even more…well, Elliot wasn’t going to let Kurt wallow.  If they went out more and more and spent time traveling together to see sites Kurt didn’t want to put off seeing any longer, Elliot wasn’t going to exactly rub it in that he spent more time with Kurt than without Kurt around.  And when Blaine flunked out for not making enough effort to be to classes and be prepared and be on time and do the correct assignment and not just what he felt like doing and Blaine’s mom and dad made him move home…well Elliot didn’t rub that into anyone’s face either.  He just showed up to Kurt’s fantastic year end showcase and cheered on his ‘buddy’.  The next Christmas, at Kurt’s chance to shine at the winter showcase, Elliot met Burt as Kurt’s boyfriend. Kurt told Burt about Elliot being the one who rescued him the day he forgot his keys and got a concussion for simply walking down the street and Burt praised Elliot up and down for taking care of his boy when he was too stupid to take care of himself.

Elliot scoffed at the too stupid part, but didn’t argue much.  Kurt rewarded him for not arguing with his dad by a day at the spa, a night at a favorite club and several rounds of ‘inappropriate semi-public behavior’ sprinkled through…and an insistence that Elliot did take care of Kurt when he was too stupid to take care of himself, just Kurt’s view of his too stupid behavior and his dad’s view weren’t quite the same.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Keeper of the Grove (Part 71)

Ruby walked into the high-security ward of the Bastion’s hospital, carrying a sack of cookies, a few bottles of milk, and a stack of disposable cups. Though the watchers assigned there trusted her not to cause any trouble, protocol was still protocol and they had to thoroughly search her whole person.

<Our apologies, Keeper Rose,> one of them said after they finished.

She waved them off. <It’s fine! It’s your job, after all,>

And with that, she began her visits.

<Hey dad, hey Yang!> Ruby chirped as she came to Taiyang’s and Yang’s, carefully hugging her father around his waist, and her older sister anywhere but there.

<Hey Ruby!> they replied, smiling.

They would have hugged her back, but both of Taiyang’s arms were currently submerged in a tank of special microbes and enchanted water, healing or completely replacing the skin on them for the severity of the burns he had sustained last night; and Yang could barely move any part of her body below her neck, as a consequence of all the damage she’d sustained from injuries and her using the fire-fist.

<Okay, so I’ve got good news and bad news!> Ruby said as she opened up her sack of cookies.

<What’s the good news?> Taiyang asked, before they kept their mouths open.

<Because you guys are now wanted criminals all over Avalon, and the Heralds were obviously targeting you guys specifically, and it’s a lot easier to just keep you guys in Fae territory where the Council knows where you are at all times, you both get to go back to Keeper’s Hollow with me!> Ruby chirped as she fed them cookies

Taiyang beamed. <That’s great!> he said before bit off a chunk and chewed.

<What’s the catch...?> Yang asked as she held hers in her teeth, before she maneuvered all of it into her mouth.

<After you guys get discharged from the hospital, you’re both going on parole, like Weiss,> Ruby explained as she started pouring them cups of milk. <You’ll have to work with us as part of the Watchers or help at home, and Dad’s going to get a governor installed.

<The Council themselves are pretty sure you’ve learned your lesson from last time, but a LOT of people want insurance.>

Taiyang swallowed. <Fair enough,> he said as he picked up the rest of his cookie with his mouth.

<Aw, man!> Yang said through a mouthful of half-chewed chunks. <I’m just the victim of shitty parents and their terrible life decisions here, why am I part of it?>

<Well, there is your HUGE criminal record back at Valentino!> Ruby replied as she held up Taiyang’s cup for him. <How did you get a public indecency charge AND cause seventeen boating accidents at the same time, anyway...?>

Yang swallowed and sheepishly looked away. <Ah, yeah… some friends of mine needed a distraction to get away, so I decided to flash my tits at a camera… didn’t realize just how many receivers that thing was connected to...>

Ruby looked at her in confusion. <They’re just your boobs, what’s so distracting about them...?> she asked as she moved to help Yang drink her milk.

Taiyang winced. <Can you girls please talk about this some other time? Preferably when I’m not in earshot...?>

<Aww, fine...> Ruby said, her ears falling as she pulled Yang’s empty cup away.

<Don’t worry, we’ll talk when we get back to the Hollow, Rubes,> Yang said, smiling. <Then, I’ll help you get abreast of everything I haven’t told you in our Honey Dreams!>

Taiyang shook his head, the two sisters laughed, until Yang’s sides started hurting again.

<Oh! Ahh! Fuck! Fuck! Rubes?>

Ruby the button for her vitae vine to send down more painkillers.

Yang sighed in relief. <Oooh… thank you, that is good shit, good shit right there…>

Ruby smiled. <No problem! I need to go see the others now, before visiting hours are over. Bye dad, bye Yang!>

<See you, Ruby!> <Later, Rubes...>

Ruby headed over to the next set of beds.

<Hey Uncle Qrow, hey Blake!> Ruby said.

<Heya, Rubes,> Qrow replied.

Blake looked up from her reading, and smiled.

<You guys feeling better?> Ruby asked.

<I will if you mixed some booze into that milk—I haven’t had a drink in way too long...>

<It hasn’t even been half-a-day,> Blake said.

<Exactly.>

Ruby smiled and shook her head. <Sorry, it’s just regular old chocolate chip cookies and milk...> she said as she opened up the bag, and poured them milk.

Qrow sighed as he took his. <Oh well, I guess I’ll just pretend to get well and fucked up from this...> he muttered as he knocked back his cup like a shot of whiskey.

<Or you could just enjoy it for what it actually is, like a normal Fae,> Blake said as she bit into her cookie.

Qrow smiled as he put his cup down. <Now where’s the fun in that?>

Ruby chuckled. <… Hey, Uncle Qrow? You mind if I pull up the curtain? Me and Blake have something personal to discuss.>

<Sure, I’ll even plug up my hearing-holes, too,> Qrow said, wrapping his pillow around his head.

<Thanks, Uncle Qrow!> Ruby said, before she did just that. She lowered her voice as she went up to Blake’s bed. <You want to talk about you-know-who..?>

Blake frowned, then nodded slowly. <Thanks for the save last night… I don’t even want to think of what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did...> she shivered, her ears pulling back in fear.

<Then don’t!> Ruby said as she reached out and touched her hand. <He’s gone now, and if he comes back, just call me and I’ll come and kick his ass for you again.>

Blake smiled at her. <Thanks. That means a lot, really.> She looked away. <...I’d feel a lot better if you got rid of him permanently, though...>

Ruby frowned, and took her hand away. <Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should—your dad should have taught you that...>

Blake sighed. <Is it really worth it, though…?>

<Do you never stay awake at night wondering about all the people you’ve killed, if that was the right decision? If so, then I say it is,> Ruby replied. <I need to go now, want me to pull back the curtain?>

<Please don’t, I could use some kinda-alone time, actually...> Blake said, staring at her sheets.

Ruby nodded. She told Qrow he could unplug his hearing-holes, and went to the next bed.

“Hello Ruby!” Pyrrha said, waving.

“Hey Pyrrha!” Ruby said, waving back. “How are you feeling?” she asked as she gave her a cookie.

“Wonderful, thank you! I’m still plenty sore from the events of last night, but it’s nothing new to me,” she said before she took a bite.

Ruby nodded. “That’s great to hear! I’m sure someone’s already told you, but in case they haven’t, we’ll try to clear your name and get you back in the human territories ASAP!”

Pyhrra choked on her cookie. After she and Ruby got it to go down the right pipe, she muttered, “Oh... oh no, please, please don’t...”

“Do what?” Ruby asked as she patted her on the back.

“Send me back to the human territories,” Pyrrha replied as she held up her cup of milk. “Please. I like it here.”

“Don’t you want to go back...?” Ruby asked.

Pyrrha shook her head, before she took a drink. “I’ve been trying to find something—anything to get away from the Church of the Holy Shepherd, start afresh somewhere new, ideally permanently, or even just temporarily, like I originally planned last night.”

“But don’t they need you back there? You’re part of their Eldan Council, right?”

Pyrrha sighed. “My family hasn’t had any real sway in how the government or the church is run ever since Piorina herself—maybe even during her time. All I really do is appear in public events, be the center of ceremonies, and maybe even visit some people in their homes every once in a while...

“The Sacred Stewards are the ones really running the show!”

Ruby blinked. “Wow. I never knew...”

Pyrrha sighed. “And that is exactly the problem...”

“Excuse me, may I interrupt your conversation?” Penny asked.

Ruby turned to her and smiled. “Oh, no, not at all, Penny! I was just about to finish up and leave, actually.” She paused. “What’s with the new outfit…?”

“Pyrrha requested it!” Penny replied as she walked up in an Old World Nurse’s outfit straight from pop culture. “It wasn’t an unreasonable demand, and clothing does not affect my mender duties in the slightest, so why not honour it?”

She smiled as she turned around, showing it off. “Besides, I look good in it, don’t I...?”

“You really do!” Ruby replied, giving her the thumbs up. “Doesn’t she, Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha blinked, her cheeks slowly turning red. “I’m sorry, were you saying something...?”

Ruby and Penny chuckled. The former shut the privacy curtains on her way out, while the latter walked up to Pyrrha, gently wiping the trickle of drool from the side of her mouth.

“You’ve got a little something...~”

Finally, Ruby made it to the last bed. Because of the special circumstances, there were magical barriers erected all around the patient, and a weaver/mender team was on-hand just outside it. She knocked on one of the walls, ripples of energy spreading all over its surface.

“Weiss? I’m coming in!”

Ruby through the barrier, like she was diving into the surface of a pool, only sideways.

“Ugghh...” Weiss groaned as she lay face-down in her bed, the Summer plushie in one arm, and Winter’s Eluna plushie in her other—Velvet had learned of their pawning it off, and bought it back, even if they still had to continue the payments for how large their debt was.

She offered much more generous terms compared to the Guild, though, with offers of contract jobs from the Palace aside.

Ruby smiled as she climbed in next to her. “How are you feeling, Weiss...?” she asked as she put a hand on her back.

“My entire world is pain, every fiber of my being is suffering, and I hate everything and everyone in it, including you...” Weiss mumbled.

“That’s just the magical exhaustion talking,” Ruby hummed.

Weiss turned to face her, her eyes full of murder. “No it isn’t.”

Ruby smiled, dug into her bag of cookies, and put one to her lips.

Weiss glared at her, before she took a bite of it. After she chewed and swallowed, she downgraded to ‘manslaughter.’ “Okay, so maybe it is...” she muttered as she took another bite.

“You’ll feel a whole lot better once we get your levels back up,” Ruby said, gently touching her vitae vine drip of pure mana water.

“It can’t refill fast enough...” Weiss muttered after she swallowed her latest mouthful. She looked at Ruby. “Hey… Ruby… do you have any news about what happened to Winter, after we left?”

Ruby shrugged. “The seekers tell me she and a good chunk of the Queensguard went off to Manor Schnee, turn it into a temporary evacuation center and military base while they fix up Candela. They couldn’t sneak someone in without it looking real suspicious, so we’re in the dark...”

Weiss sighed. “I wonder what she’s going through right now… or what happened to her since they took her away to Queensguard HQ, for that matter...”

Ruby shrugged again. “I guess we’ll find out eventually!” she gently rubbed her on her back. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine...”

Weiss hummed as she buried her face back in her pillow. “I sure hope so...”