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"Ouch!"
You groan and roll over. It's late, really late. The time of night where any normal person would be in bed. But your other half isn't any normal person - she's an experienced huntress. You open your tired eyes and spot her through the haze, still in her pyjamas, she's working on her scythe again. A desk light illuminates the workbench that takes up much of the floorspace of your small but cosy bedroom.
"Ruby?"
The clattering stops for a moment. "Oops, sorry. Did I wake you up?" She turns in her chair to look at you.
"Come to bed. It's too late for that..."
"But-"
"I don't want to hear any buts! You need to sleep sometimes too."
Ruby is visibly torn. She turns back and picks up a screwdriver, her hands move like a whirlwind. Ruby is an incredibly talented weapon engineer. When she isn't out hunting – she's tweaking weapons for other hunters and townspeople. Her dedication often gets in the way of her good sense. She'd run herself ragged on projects and jobs that weren't always urgent.
You'd been with Ruby for years, through turbulent times at Beacon and beyond. "Don't make me get your sister down here again."
"Yang knows what I'm like."
"Yeah, that's why it makes her so angry."
She sighs and puts down her tools, turning off the light. The moon is providing enough illumination to see her clearly. She's grown up a lot since those old days. Although she never had a chance of becoming as... curvy as her sister. Her pale skin, gentle face, she's like a painting in motion. She's completely enrapturing. Especially with the red tips of her hair that shimmer when the light hits them.
She crawls under the cover and cuddles up to your side, her chest rising and falling. Ruby would be out within a minute. For all of her energy and enthusiasm, she was a heavy sleeper. She mellowed out after you left the academy... well, left isn't really the right word for it. But she's grown up in more ways than just appearance. Her optimism was tinted with the weight of reality.
You stare at the ceiling for a moment before looking down at her. You're lucky, the luckiest man in the city, or even the whole country. At first you found her annoying, but life has a funny way of working out in ways you don't expect. The time spent training and tinkering brought you together, even if she was a headache sometimes.
Ruby mumbles into your chest, "I need to finish it tomorrow."
"You have plenty of time."
"Yang keeps asking me when she'll have a nephew or niece to screw around with."
Your eyes narrow, "She's a bad influence."
"Hey, we don't even have one yet."
"Would you like to?"
Ruby's hold on you tightens, "I don't know. I'm kind of scared. My mother was never around, so I don't know how to do it."
You shake your head, "Just be kind, and make sure that they're taken care of. There's nothing more to it than that."
"Right."
"Why is Yang begging you for that anyway?"
"I don't know, she's just teasing me."
"It would be nice though."
Ruby blushed, "Don't be such a perv!" She whisper-shouts at you.
"What? We've slept in the same bed for five years!"
"Yeah, but you don't have to talk about it!"
The argument diffuses. You can hear a few people walking and talking outside – people who've been out drinking late into the night. It's a completely different world from the one that you and Ruby met in. You can never quite get adjusted to it.
"Do you regret it?"
"Regret what?"
"Being with me."
"I haven't run to the hills yet, have I?" You lower yourself down to eye level with her. "If you sent me back to the day we met, I'd do the exact same things all over again." Her silver eyes are wet with tears.
"Yeah."
You hug each other tight. Another warm night with your Ruby.