Roman's POV
I couldn't keep the smirk off my face at Red's reaction to my disguise. Of course, I couldn't have done it without Neo, she was the one who had found (stolen) the wig and clothes in record time. The gun was from my own personal collection, just a little something I had kept in the back of my closet next to the figurative skeletons.
"Table for two please," I said to the hostess. I gently tapped Red on the head and she started, having been shaken from whatever thoughts were in her head. We followed the hostess to a table next to the window, where we were handed menus.
"Hello my name is Cyan, can I get you two something to drink? Oh hi Ruby!" a blue haired waiter appeared next to the table.
"Coffee, black," I said before turning my attention back to the menu.
"Hi Cyan! Coffee with cream and five sugars," was Red's answer, causing me to look at her in shock.
"No milk today?" Cyan looked at her in amusement. She stuck her tongue out at him as he turned to go into the kitchen.
"Five sugars? How do you not have diabetes?!" I stared at her in amazement.
She shrugged,"I don't know I've always had my coffee that way."
"Hmm... so tell me Red, what's good here on the menu?"
"Basically everything," she answered back.
"Alright then, you pick for me," I set my menu down. Ruby waved to Cyan again, who promptly walked over.
"Country skillet for him, and my usual," she told him.
"Honestly I'm jealous of your metabolism..." he muttered as he took down our order.
"What does he mean by that?" I raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged innocently in return.
About 20 minutes later, my jaw dropped in shock as Cyan came towards our table with a tray piled with food. He set down my plate in front of me (which actually looked quite delicious) and a large array of foods in front of Red.
"If your mouth is open any longer you're going to start catching flies," she snickered at me.
"How..." I trailed off as she started digging into a stack of pancakes. I shook my head in amazement at her before starting on my own food.
"You want to play 20 questions?" she asked me after 10 minutes of quiet silence between us.
I shrugged,"Go ahead."
"Hmm...what was the first thought that came to your mind when you woke up this morning?"
"I'm going to meet a Huntress in Training. Am I trying to get myself killed?" I laughed dryly,"Have you ever gotten pulled over by a cop?"
"I'm not old enough to drive yet but the cops in Patch knew not to mess with my sister when she was riding her motorcycle," Ruby stabbed an egg with her fork,"Dad had to ship Bumblebee over to Vale because she wanted to ride around."
"I remember her," I snorted,"Your sister trashed my best friend's club."
She winced a little,"I'm going to guess that the one she kicked out of the window was your best friend. How is he by the way?"
"I think he's fine now but he's scared shitless of your sister," I took another bite,"Is she really that scary?"
"Well if you actually get her mad enough to the point where she explodes, yeah. Also Junior got the worst of it because he ripped out some of her hair."
"He ripped out some of her hair...?"
"Yang's super protective of her hair, and if anyone or anything damages it, she quite literally explodes in anger," Ruby chewed her food, looking at Roman curiously over her forkful of pancakes,"What was the weirdest prank call you ever made?"
"I've never made a prank call. Unlike some kids," I emphasized the word while playfully squinting at Red,"I've used my time to efficiently plan my well-prepared heists."
"Well-prepared my ass," Ruby snorted,"Last time I ran into you, you didn't seem very well prepared at all."
"That is because you are impossible to prepare for Red," I replied, a hint of affection in my voice,"What's your favorite food and have you ever binged on that food?"
"Cookies are my absolute favorite. Specifically chocolate chip cookies. And yes I have binged on them before, I think the most I've eaten in a day was about 200 cookies but I regretted it afterwards because I got really sick."
"Sounds about right," I finished up my food and coffee. I saw that Ruby had munched her way through all the plates on her side of the table, which probably had been enough food to feed three more people. "You good?" I asked as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. She nodded and I waved Cyan over for the check.
"It's on the house today," he grinned at Ruby,"Boss said since you come here every weekend and order the same amount, that we should give you a freebie this time."
"Tell her thanks!" Ruby stretched in her chair and then got up. We left the small cafe, both comfortably satisfied.
Time Skip (Ruby's POV)
After our meal we went to the largest park in Vale to relax for a while. As we were sitting under one of the larger trees, my scroll went off. I took it out of my pocket and saw that Weiss was calling.
"Hello?" I put it on speakerphone.
"RUBY WHERE ARE YOU!" a loud screech came from the scroll,"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE!"
"Uh Yang? Why are you on Weiss' scroll?"
"I dropped mine out the window by accident but who cares about that. WHERE ARE YOU AND IF YOU'RE WITH THAT ASSWIPE I WILL GLADLY PUNCH HIM INTO FOREVER FALL!"
"Calm down Yang," I grumbled,"I just went out to have breakfast-"
"You insufferable little red! Do you know how freaked out Blake and Yang were when we woke up this morning to find you gone!" Weiss' voice yelled out a few feet away.
"Uh oh," Torchwick and I said at the same time.
Weiss had Myrtenaster in her hand and pointed it at Torchwick,"Who are you and why are you with my partner?!" A small shatter sounded next to us and an extremely short girl appeared, staring at Weiss with a small smirk on her lips.
"Neo, please don't," I heard Torchwick groan.
"SO YOU ARE WITH HIM! I THOUGHT BLAKE AND I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Yang yelled from my scroll.
I lost my temper,"HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF SOMEONE TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM BLAKE?! HE'S MY SOULMATE FOR GRIMM'S SAKE!" I screamed at Yang and silence fell around us.
Weiss lowered her weapon and sheathed it,"He's your soulmate?"
"Yes," I growled before flopping back down on the grass. I hung up the call and threw my scroll to the side.
Torchwick huffed and took out a cigar. The three of us watched him light it, causing him to raise an eyebrow at us,"What I'm stressed out," he grumbled.
Weiss slowly came towards me, keeping an eye on Neo, the small girl doing the same to Weiss. Once she sat down next to me, Neo relaxed as well and daintily sat down with her legs crossed next to Torchwick.
"Didn't I specifically tell you not to follow me today?" Torchwick looked at Neo,"And why are you disguised?". She shrugged and signed a reply back.
"I wanted to make sure you were safe, and I'm disguised so Cinder and her associates won't recognize me," I heard Weiss say. Neo's head snapped towards Weiss and she started signing again.
Weiss shook her head,"Don't worry I won't say anything, not that I even know who those people are. Also I only know a little bit of sign language, but it's enough to communicate with. Unfortunately the only person that I ever needed to use sign language with was my grandmother, but she passed on a few years back. I've forgotten a lot of what I learned."
Torchwick looped an arm around my shoulders, drawing me close to him. I curled up next to him, resting my head on his chest and feeling defined muscles underneath.
"So how old are you anyways Ro..Romeo?" I quickly changed what I was about to say. "22," he sighed,"Honestly the universe must've briefly turned upside down when it decided we would be a good match."
"Agreed," I mumbled against his clothes.
Weiss gave me a questioning look but I waved her off. "What about you Neo?" Weiss asked. She signed something back and Weiss put on a thoughtful look before signing. Neo looked unsure but nodded nevertheless. The two exchanged scrolls and inputted their numbers in. I gave Weiss a questioning look this time but she shook her head.
"What time is it?" I felt around for my scroll before I realized it was in Torchwick's hand. "How did you....." I trailed off when I remembered what he did for a career.
He merely smirked and checked my scroll,"It's around 1:00 now."
"Cookie time!" I yelled happily, grabbing the box of cookies that had been by my side.
"Ruby no!" Weiss grabbed the box away from me,"You know what happened last time!"
"B-but....."
"No buts! One cookie only, I don't want you getting sick again!" Weiss handed me a single cookie and I looked at it sadly before nibbling very small chunks off of it.
"Red what are you doing?" Torchwick chuckled next to me.
"I'm savoring my only cookie for the day!" I pouted.
Time Skip
"Ok Ruby time to explain to me who that guy was," Weiss half glared at me on the airship back to Beacon. "I already told you, he's my soulmate...... as to who he is, I think it's best I show you in private," I said softly.
A short while later we were back in the dorm; Yang and Blake were about to scold me before Weiss kicked both of them out. I sat down on Weiss' bed, nervously unhooking my cape. She looked at me expectantly as I lifted my blouse up, exposing the jack-o-lantern soulmark that was on my side. She staggered back in shock before sitting down on the floor with a thump.
"Y-you... that man.... you're soulmates with Roman Torchwick?!" was all that she said before fainting on the ground. I sighed and tucked my shirt back into the waistband of my pants before gently picking her up and laying her on her bed. I went into the bathroom and dampened a towel with cold water before placing it on her forehead. A few moments later she came around, albeit a little dizzy.
"That man we spent all afternoon with was Roman Torchwick," she sighed,"And the girl I gave my number to was his partner."
"Yeah.... Blake and Yang know already only because they were the ones with me when I fainted from getting my mark. They saw it when I got carted into the infirmary."
"So that was why you were screaming the first night we were here," Weiss' eyes widened in realization,"The entire ballroom was wondering what had happened."
The door opened again and Blake and Yang came in with two plates of food. "The two of you missed dinner so we brought you some food," Blake gave Weiss a plate and Yang handed the other to me.
"We still need to talk about you running off like that," she pointed a finger at me. I sighed and started eating my meal. About ten minutes later, the two of us were done and Blake collected our dishes and went back to the cafeteria. Suddenly, Weiss ran into the bathroom, her face looking rather green. She promptly threw up her food and sat next to the toilet, sweat beading on her brow and her chest heaving. She ripped her blue jacket off, Yang and I watching with wide eyes as a soulmark finished drawing itself on her shoulder blade, a chocolate brown triple tomoe emblem in the center surrounded by delicate pink and white swirls accented with more chocolate brown. A ding from my scroll sounded and I rushed to grab it.
Your partner's emblem wouldn't happen to be a blue and white snowflake would it?
Yeah, it is. Neo's emblem is a triple tomoe right?
.....Looks like we'll be going on a lot of double dates.
I shook my head and saved Torchwick into my contacts as Romeo Candlewick before pocketing my scroll. I grabbed a glass of water and made my way back into the bathroom.
"How do you feel?" I handed Weiss the water.
She took a small sip before shakily standing back up,"Extremely nauseous and my mark burns quite a bit. I'm guessing his partner is my soulmate?"
I nodded in confirmation right as the door slammed open and Blake raced in with alarm on her face. I helped Weiss to her bed as Yang explained the events that had just unfolded.
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So I know Neo's emblem was never confirmed so this is based on conjecture. It looks like this and you can see it on the bottom of her boot during their team fight in the Vytal Festival when Neo is about to stomp one of the guys. I included the picture above.
Shoutout to Eli3ab3ta and Thebooklovergirl03, thanks for following!
~Nonnie
Updated December 1, 2019; 6:07am.