RWBY Through Worlds (End)

BC16: Gold (Kip and Penny)-1

"What? No," Mercury scoffed. "I just don't want to. But what does that have to do with work?"

"If you would prefer, we can ask for someone else to do this," Penny said, now realizing the problem.

"No!" Mercury said that way too fast. Then he calmed down. "It's not like anyone else is any better."

Still...

"He seemed a little down to me," Penny told Kip. "But most humans do seem odd to me. They're so illogical. I admit, being logical all the time is boring, but there are times they could be just a little more logical."

[Yeah, preach it, Penny.]

"My mother says that people are never as rational as you would expect them to be," Kip said. [Consider the source though.] "But I think maybe he just doesn't like his job."

"Why would he do it then?" Penny said.

"Do you like what you do or do you do it because you were made for it?" Kip asked.

"At first I did it because I was made for it," Penny said, "but then I made friends, and now I like helping people. I like to feel that I'm useful. Isn't that how everyone is?"

"I think so," Kip said. "When I lived in my mom's basement/house, I never felt useful. It was pretty...dull. I like having a job now...but if I didn't like the job, maybe I'd be like Mercury."

"Well, we're not making him do it," Penny said. "I'm not going to worry about it."

Kip did not worry about it either.

"And the party will be more fun, and we shouldn't be...what Yang calls a 'wet blanket'," Penny said.

* * *

The party was fun. Ruby got to pick her own activities for it, so there was "pin the tail on the Grmm", a video game console, and target practice.

And tea, because Weiss brought tea.

"I hope now that you're finally going to be an adult, you'll start acting a little more grown up," she told Ruby.

"Is that your advice as my aunt or as my old partner?" Ruby asked.

"Both!" Weiss said.

"Oh, well, I've never listened to either," Ruby snorted.

"Egh, I can't believe you're grown up..." Yang hugged her so hard she almost suffocated her. "My baby sister!"

"Hmm, and you're almost old enough to drink and run for office," Raven noted. She'd actually come. 

"Yeah, not planning to do either," Yang said.

Qrow nodded approvingly.

"Miss Rose, this is an important birthday for you," Winter said. "You're responsible for yourself now."

"Is this the speech about being an adult that I'm going to get?" Ruby asked.

Winter raised an eyebrow at her.

"Right...uh, sorry," Ruby said meekly. "Continue."

"I was just going to say that it's not as if you haven't had to make decisions for yourself already," Winter said. "But there are more options now that you're officially one, and you should consider them carefully. After all, you're graduating Beacon also in the spring, and you could apply for the Specialist program, or you could consider a teaching career."

"Bad idea," Weiss said. "Ruby shouldn't be in charge of children."

"Hey!" Ruby said. "I taught Mercury--right, Mercury?"