Chapter 7

Ruby was never a fan of Mondays. Even after resting over the weekend, Monday morning always seemed to bring a heavy wave of fatigue. However, today was a little different. Her eyes still drooped as she ate a quick breakfast, she yawned her way through the subway ride to SDC headquarters, and when she got to her desk she felt like she could put her head down and fall asleep in moments. The difference was that she was excited to be at work for a change. Sure, she was not doing exactly the job for which she had signed up, and being a personal secretary was never featured on her list of most desirable jobs, but it was still exciting. She was at the heart of a bustling, multi-billion lien business, meeting new people and seeing things she never expected to see.

It helped that the commute had been mostly painless. Even though the subway station near Sun's apartment was not as clean and orderly as the stations nearer the city center or the tourist areas, it was anything but rundown. Ruby was on the receiving end of some curious looks as she walked the two blocks through the mostly Faunus neighborhood that took her from apartment to station, but she never felt like she was in danger. The trip turned out to be even shorter than her Friday commute, a direct shot, as all subway lines seemed to lead to the SDC.

A cheerful greeting from Penny only helped. "Good morning Ruby!" The little sprite cheered as Ruby sat at her desk. "How was your weekend?"

"Good...I ran into an old friend, found a place to stay." Ruby smiled. "How was your weekend?"

"Sensational!" Penny replied. "Not only was I able to refine the company's data processing system - increasing efficiency by 2.3% - I was able to do some research."

"Sounds like you deserve a day off." Ruby joked.

"No need!" Penny responded. "A few moments of defragmentation and automated maintenance keep me fit as a fiddle!" Penny paused, her sprite taking on a neutral expression. "Ms. Schnee has arrived."

"Oh, should I brace myself?" Ruby asked with an uneasy laugh.

"No, Ms. Schnee is usually in a good mood when she arrives at the start of the week, and today is no different." Penny answered. "In fact, she's humming a tune!"

"What song?" Ruby inquired.

"That is classified." Penny replied.

With a ding the elevator arrived, the doors sliding open to reveal Weiss. She was clad in a white dress and carrying a white briefcase. Though no longer humming, she was smiling.

"Good morning Ms. Schnee!" Ruby cheered.

"Ah, good morning Ms. Rose." Weiss greeted.

"How was your weekend?" Ruby asked.

"Wonderful." Weiss said with a contented sigh. "And yours Ms. Rose?"

"It was really great." Ruby replied.

"Splendid." Weiss nodded, heading for her office.

"Uh...Ms. Schnee?" Ruby called.

"Yes?" Weiss turned to her.

"It feels kind of weird, being called Ms. Rose." Ruby noted. "You can call me Ruby if you want."

"Very well Ruby." Weiss agreed. She turned once again to her office before turning back. "You may call me Weiss if you wish."

"O-okay...Weiss." Ruby stammered. Weiss ducked into her office, the door closing behind her.

"Ms. Schnee must be in a very good mood." Penny suggested, her volume low. "She allows very few the privilege of addressing her by her given name. Your efforts last Friday must have impressed her."

"I guess so." Ruby was still dumbfounded. She never expected to be on first name terms with the head of the company - ever - let alone so soon. "It's still early, but is there anything I can do now?"

"It would be wise to start a pot of coffee." Penny advised.

"Good idea." Ruby agreed. She slipped her earpiece into place before getting up and heading for the kitchen. She set up the coffee maker and headed back while it brewed, reaching her desk just in time to hear the elevator ding once more. A Faunus with tall rabbit ears stepped off the elevator. She was still bundled in a heavy coat and scarf, carrying a shallow white cardboard box. "Good morning, do you have an appointment with Ms. Schnee?"

The Faunus walked up to the desk, looking Ruby over with a smile. "No, this is a social call. I'm Velvet Scarlatina, manager of Schnee Faunus Outreach." She spoke with an accident Ruby did not recognize. When Velvet extended her free hand, Ruby took it and gave it a shake. "You must be Ruby Rose. Pyrrha told me about you."

"That's me." Ruby nodded. "Pyrrha told me about you too."

"Nothing good I hope." Velvet joked.

"Just that you're super nice and work really hard." Ruby said.

"That sounds about right." Velvet grinned. "Is Ms. Schnee busy? I brought her donuts." She gently jostled the box for emphasis.

"No, she just got here." Ruby replied. "I'll give her a-"

Weiss' office door opened, and she emerged with a grin. "Velvet, right on time." The Faunus placed the box on Ruby's desk to receive a hug from Weiss. "So good to see you."

"Always a pleasure." Velvet responded. She opened the donut box, grabbing one.

Weiss picked one out as well. "I don't know why you always get so many. We never eat more than three or four."

"But they never go to waste." Velvet noted. "Help yourself Ruby."

"Sure, thanks." Ruby nodded. She was still pretty full from breakfast, but fresh donuts were fresh donuts. She took a few seconds to look over the pastries and selected one. By the time she did, Weiss had retreated into her office with Velvet in tow.

"I wasn't expecting that." Ruby whispered to Penny. "Weiss seems super nice."

"She's very kind and relaxed around those she trusts." Penny explained.

"I guess that means she trusts me too." Ruby surmised.

Penny paused for a moment, then her sprite shifted to a smiling expression. "I suppose so."

As soon as the office door closed behind Velvet, Weiss wrapped her in another hug. This one was tighter, closer, and went on longer than any normal polite introduction. "Um...I missed you too?" Velvet finally managed.

"I was worried about you." Weiss released Velvet, striding to her desk with the Faunus in tow. Instead of sitting in her usual chair, the pair sat in the armchairs reserved for guests that were positioned before the desk.

"I just went on a little business trip to Mistral." Velvet reassured.

"You went on a trip to a country on the front lines of the war against the White Fang to deal with a matter involving a White Fang saboteur, not to mention the racial tensions involved." Weiss noted.

The situation in Mistral had indeed been a delicate one. At an SDC owned automotive plant, a Faunus employee had been found to be a White Fang member planning to sabotage production with explosives. The investigation had started when the employee in question was noticed acting strangely, and it only took a PI a few days to gather enough damning evidence to get the police involved. The Faunus was fired, with the matter handed over to the Mistrali authorities...and that was where it should have ended. But the White Fang operative was clever, and went to the press proclaiming his innocence, claiming he was a victim of SDC oppression and a legal system biased against Faunus.

The leader of the Faunus Workers Union of Mistral announced plans to strike unless the employee was reinstated. That would have been a disaster on multiple fronts. Faunus around the world would see the situation as an example of oppression, while human workers would only see Faunus threatening their livelihoods to protect a terrorist. Velvet had traveled to Mistral the week before to negotiate with the union leadership. Not only had she been forced to lay out the extent of the evidence against the employee, she had to promise he would be reinstated if found not guilty of the charges against him. It was beyond what she and Weiss had expected would be necessary to settle the situation, but it was enough to secure an uneasy resolution to the dispute.

"There was plenty of security." Velvet assured Weiss. "It was fine."

"I was still worried." Weiss sighed. "You should have come to see me when you got back on Friday."

"You were already in your end-of-week meeting." Velvet explained. "I didn't want to interrupt, or keep you late. I know how much you love your weekends."

"My friends are far more important than my weekends." Weiss insisted.

"Well, the trip wasn't too bad." Velvet refocused. "But I hope I don't need to make another any time soon. Representative of the SDC or no, the authorities there are wary of Faunus. It seemed worse than my last visit."

"It makes sense." Weiss shrugged. "With the war going well, they're probably expecting the White Fang to launch more terror attacks to distract from their battlefield losses."

"Speaking of the war, have you heard from Winter recently?" Velvet asked.

"Not for a while." Weiss replied. "But that's normal. Once she deploys it's all radio silence and secrecy."

"I bet it's driving your mother nuts." Velvet guessed.

"Mother is coping the way she always does." Weiss rolled her eyes. "At least she hasn't been coping around the office lately."

"Yes, from what I heard you've got enough to deal with." Velvet offered a sympathetic smile.

"So you heard about the latest Cardin incident?" Weiss asked. "It's nothing I couldn't handle. I just had to smooth some things out with the complainant, and add another official reprimand to his file. I swear, I almost wish he would do something bad enough to justify firing him. Unfortunately the contract he signed when my father was in charge requires something on the order of gross negligence or deliberate violence."

"You could just pay him to quit." Velvet suggested.

"I'm not giving that racist a dime more than I'm legally obligated to." Weiss huffed. "He'll slip up one of these days, and I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

"Sooner than later I hope." Velvet added. "But enough about him. How was your weekend?"

A broad grin spread across Weiss' face. "My weekend? Well…"

Ruby was surprised to find just how easy her job was on Monday. Friday had been chaos, constant rapid exertion with barely a moment's rest. After experiencing that, she could understand how the position had become notorious. Monday was an entirely different matter. Yes, Ruby had to make the occasional delivery, pick up an envelope from this department or a package from that department, and she still had to get Weiss' lunch, but it was not all that bad. She actually spent most of the day at her desk, greeting the occasional guest, and even had an extended lunch break. If the job was going to be four of those rather easy days and one crazy day per week, she could certainly deal with it.

After work, Ruby took the subway home. Beforehand, when she had expected another hectic day, her plan had been to call Vulpe for a Ryde. Ruby had assumed her leg would be hurting again, but that was not the case. It barely even ached. The ride home was just as easy as her morning commute had been, and she was back at the apartment in no time. After making her way to the apartment door, Ruby fumbled with her keyring, searching for the copy blade had given her.

Why did she even have so many keys? There should have only been like...four...was she supposed to knock and call out?

Ruby could not remember, so she lightly tapped on the door. "Blake? It's Ruby, don't shoot me?" She half-chuckled tiredly as she located the key, unlocking the heavy door latch and pushing through. Then she heard it - a yelp, grunting, gasping. She froze.

Were they having sex? Oooh...they were having sex. Damnit, they were really going at it...wait, no, bad, no voyeurism Ruby. Quick, into your room, headphones on, close the door first or Blake will eat you!

Ruby did just that, retreating to her room, slipping on her headphones and playing some music. She tried to keep her mind off of what was happening just down the hall...but she was doing a very bad job of keeping her mind off of it. Internet videos were a useful distraction...but still, it had been some time since her last partner. Old memories and experiences were brought to the forefront, and they were taking effect. She hoped Blake's sense of smell didn't drive her to comment. After a few minutes, Ruby dared to slip off her headphones, listening carefully. The sounds of carnal pleasure were gone, replaced by a running shower.

Phew, they're done. I wonder if they'll go for round two in the shower...no! Stop! Think about something else! Anything else! Cookies! Puppies!

Ruby put her headphones back on and went back to the videos. The thoughts she tried to suppress still intruded, but she shooed them away as they arose. She had just about gotten it out of her mind when...knock knock! Ruby yelped and nearly fell out of bed before regaining her sense. "Gah...who is it?"

The door opened, revealing Blake, her hair still damp, clad in a black shirt and jeans. "We're going to work." She narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "Don't let anyone in...and take a shower."

"Y-yes ma'am." Ruby nodded.

Blake looked to her side, rolling her eyes and walking away. Sun replaced her in the open doorway, his hair damp as well. He wore jeans and an unbuttoned black shirt. "Hey Ruby...how long have you been here?"

"Long enough." Ruby chuckled nervously.

"Yeah...sorry about that." Sun scratched the back of his neck. "Blake and I...uh...bang before we go to work. That way we won't be distracted by any stray...scents." He paused, he and Ruby facing one another uneasily. "Well, I'd better get going. Don't want Blake to leave without me...see ya' later."

"Yeah, see ya', have a good night." Ruby responded.

"Yep...I'll uh...try to talk Blake into...nevermind." Sun fumbled. "Bye."

He rushed off, leaving Ruby alone. She heard the front door close and lock, then silence. She was not quite sure what to do, but a cold shower would be a good start.

Despite her racing thoughts, Ruby somehow managed to get a good night's sleep. In the morning she was refreshed and eager, and headed off to work after eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Her departure came a little later than usual. She was growing more confident in her ability to navigate the city's transit system, and did not need to give herself as much extra time as she had before. It helped that the trains ran perfectly on time. It was a far cry from Patch's busses or Vale's subways, where being on time was the exception, not the rule.

Ruby arrived at her desk just a few minutes before Weiss reached the floor. Weiss did not appear to be as chipper as she had the prior morning, but she managed a smile to meet Ruby's own as she headed into her office. The rest of Ruby's morning progressed much as the previous day's had - rather sedate, with only a few trips away from her desk. As midday approached, there was a small flurry of activity, with Weiss sending Ruby off to make a series of deliveries, all in one trip.

Rather than immediately returning to her desk, Ruby headed to the cafeteria and purchased her lunch. Feeling a bit more confident, she chose a fresh cheesesteak instead of one of pre-packaged sandwiches. It came with steak fries, which was a nice bonus. Yang would be happy to hear she was eating so well. Ruby packed the meal into a plastic container, added a sports drink, and completed her purchase, picking up a set of plastic utensils on the way out. As much as she wanted to sit down and eat immediately, there was no time. Through her earpiece, Penny reminded her to go to the lobby to pick up Weiss' lunch, which was delivered from a nearby restaurant.

Between her own lunch and Weiss' large bag of food, Ruby more than had her hands full. She was surprised by just how much Weiss had ordered. Perhaps she had also gotten dinner. With the help of a friendly employee who pushed the elevator buttons for her, Ruby made her way back to the top floor, where she was surprised to find a small group was gathered. Pyrrha was standing in front of Ruby's desk. She wore a simple blouse and had her hair tied in a tight ponytail. Beside her stood a slim man, about the same height as Pyrrha. His hair was also about the same length, though it was black with a single pink streak through it. He wore an elaborate suit, black and green with gold trim, in a style with which Ruby was unfamiliar.

"Hello Ruby." Pyrrha greeted. "How are you?"

"Good, good." Ruby nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Ren and I are here to have lunch with Ms. Schnee." Pyrrha replied. Well, that explained the extra food. She nudged the man's shoulder. "Ren, meet Ruby."

"It's an honor." Ren politely bowed before stepping forward to help Ruby with the stack of food she carried. "I look forward to working with you once the project gets underway."

"I guess you guys and Weiss are really close." Ruby surmised.

"Yes." Pyrrha nodded. "Along with Velvet, we were the first managers she hired upon taking over the company."

With a click, Weiss' office door opened and she emerged, smiling ear to ear. "Ren, Pyrrha, so good to see you. Shall we?"

"Just a moment." Pyrrha said. "Ruby, would you like to join us? It would be a good chance for us all to get to know one another."

"I'd love to...but I don't want to impose or anything." Ruby hesitated.

"Nonsense, grab your chair and come on in." Weiss insisted. Ruby was not about to refuse an invitation to dine with her boss. Maybe they could connect more as people than employees. It was always awkward viewing someone as a position rather than a human.