Ruby was trying to stay awake.

She really was.

The key word being 'trying', as her head slumped forward once more, barely touching the desk before she righted herself.

A night of trick or treating had ended with Ruby gaining a considerable pile of candy – albeit dwarfed by Nora's own pile, which Ruby was certain was heavier than herself – and she had eaten at least a pound or two of it last night.

Consequently, the resulting stomachache meant that the redhead hadn't gotten much in the way of sleep the previous night – not a wink of sleep had been found in her girlfriend's arms, no matter how much she tried. The outcome, of course, was her being extremely tired.

Somehow, she'd been able to power through their morning classes and most of the afternoon classes – mostly through caffeine – but even that seemed to no longer hold any help, as her eyelids drooped. I should have listened to Pyrrha and just stayed in bed. Ruby knew that worried emerald eyes were watching her – they had been for the whole day.

Ruby felt Pyrrha's hand jostle her slightly, evidently worried that she was going to fall asleep any moment now, or at least to keep her from smack her head against the tabletop. Just a few more minutes, and class will be out for the day and then I can finally sleep! Yet time seemed to be snail-crawlingly slow, as seconds felt like eons, making Ruby look around if only to keep herself moving.

Weiss was being an excellent student as always and was taking notes, Blake was reading a book hidden under her notebook and Yang… Yang was half-awake herself, yawning as she stared down at the Professor. Pyrrha was the only one trying to keep her awake, for whatever it was worth.

Once more, Ruby started to consider the closest textbook to be an increasingly attractive substitute pillow as she gave out a pained groan. Seriously, why did I come to class? It's not like I'm going to remember a single thing Port is saying, and I'm pretty sure Pyrrha isn't taking very good notes because she's been trying to keep me awake… This sucks.

What made it even worse was the fact that it was Professor Port's class. The temptation to sleep only grew as Professor Port rambled on and on about some time he wrestled with a Grimm. Especially since he was the only teacher who really didn't seem to notice if any of his students ever payed attention. How does Weiss even take notes on this?

I'm never eating candy again, Ruby decided before realizing it was too harsh. At least not for another week… I can't do that, Nora will eat it all by then. I suppose, I won't eat any more than a handful a day? Yeah that sounds right…

…

…

Ruby jolted as Pyrrha gently elbowed her in the side. Rubbing her eyes, Ruby looked around. Yang Class was still going on; when will it ever end? She gave out a frustrated groan.

"Just ten more minutes." Pyrrha whispered encouragingly as she leaned in against Ruby. "You can do it!"

Ruby shook her head. "I'm not gonna make it, too sleepy."

A worried frown tugged at Pyrrha's lips as Ruby's head finally sank against the desk. Her eyes were shut, and for all intents and purposes, she was dead to the worl- "Eep!" Ruby barely covered her mouth as she nearly jumped out of her seat from a finger poking her in the side, none too gently. "Pyrrha! What was that for?!"

"To keep you awake. "

"You didn't have to poke me so hard."

"I'm sorr-"

"Ah, Miss Rose, I see you and Miss Nikos are having discussion even before class has ended!" Silver eyes widened in horror, as Pyrrha's face mirrored much of the same. "Would you mind sharing with the class?"

Ruby was most certainly awake now.

"We were…um…. uh… that's to say…" Ruby didn't have the faintest idea about what the class was even on today, besides fighting Grimm – she'd been all too focused on trying to keep her eyes opened than the subject material. "…um…"

"We were discussing the best way to kill the King Taijitu if we had been in the same situation."

"Most studious of you, Miss Nikos!" Ruby was going to find a way to pay Pyrrha back, she can have any of the candy she wants! "So, what were some of the ways you two decided on?" Back to square one. Crap.

"By… shooting… it…?" Ruby could see the thick grey eyebrows narrow; evidently shooting it hadn't been the correct answer, I should have stayed in bed today.

"We'd do a double lariat!" Port nodded approvingly at the extremely unrealistic move, forget the candy, I'll be the little spoon tonight! …not that I'll notice the moment we get into bed…

"Excellent idea, Miss Nikos, but what about the other head, Miss Rose?"

"I… uh… would have kicked it?" Bushy eyebrows started to narrow again, as panic spread throughout Ruby from Port's questioning look.

"What kind of kick?"

"A…um… roundhouse…?"

There was silence for a handful of seconds, which might as well of been years to Ruby. "Excellent idea, Miss Rose, they King Taijitu have a weak chin and-"

BUZZ

"-and we'll come to the stunning conclusion tomorrow, class dismissed!"

Ruby let out a sigh of relief before slumping against Pyrrha. "That was close."

"It was all my fault." Ruby didn't need to have her eyes opened to know that Pyrrha was pouting. "I didn't mean to poke you so hard or have Port call on us… is there something I can do to make it for you?"

Ruby numbly nodded, as the adrenaline started to wear off. "Yup." She fell forwards, off Pyrrha's shoulders and ending up in her lap. "Carry me back to the dorms pleaseeeeee?"

"Of course!" Strong arms picked her up in a bridal carry, Ruby's head coming to rest in the crook of Pyrrha's neck.

Ruby was asleep before they even got out of the classroom.

AU: If you can't tell, I'm extremely sleepy and this is why this chapter exists.

Now, I may have said that I was going to do three Halloween chapters for Spoon Equality… I maaay have burned myself out on them, so that's a thing, and I am sorry for lying D: That side-story REALLY took a number on me. (Also, for those who read the side-story, The Ice Queen and the Viking, the voting for the contest it's part of, is now open on reddit!)

So, couple of things to say. I'll leave the thing that contains spoilers last and make a big ol warning for that.

I like doing extremely mundane things, which is where this comes out of. Secondly, I'm sorry for this chapter being a bit… boring. I really I didn't have much to say. On the other hand, the next chapter should be out on Friday along with Acceptance and Dilation! :D

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE TWO OF VOLUME 4, BE WARNED

Also, I might, just MIGHT have a little bit of hope in me now because Ruby is hearing Pyrrha's voice. It's a good feeling to have hope once more, in stark contrast to the despair I was feeling in the volume 3 finale. The hope might be crushed, but I feel positive, if only vaguely, about the show for the first time since ep 11 of vol 3.

Speaking of which, thanks again to everyone who helped me get through that finale, you guys are fucking amazing! :D

SPOILERS END

Thank you for reading, I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D