*Author's Note: Sorry it's a little late. I got sidetracked.

Chapter 8

Pyrrha spent the next day just waiting for something to happen. She was waiting for Ruby to have another headache, or forget something, or God knew what. But Ruby was fine. She painted in her studio all morning, rarely emerging until lunch time, while Pyrrha jogged on her treadmill. Then after they ate they watched some TV before Ruby went back to painting again. She kept painting until dinner, then they ate and watched more television for a few hours before going to sleep. How different a day it had been. The day after that was much the same. The pair fell into their usual routines, with the exception that Ruby was creating her artwork at home rather than a tattoo parlor. It seemed almost normal.

On Friday it was time for Ruby to go back to the gym for another physical therapy session. By now it was something she dreaded. Doc was running her ragged, as was her job. "Can't I just stay home today?" Ruby asked.

"No, you need to do your therapy." Pyrrha replied.

"But it sucks." Ruby complained. "It's like torture. And when I'm done I'm all disgusting and sweaty and everything hurts."

"It's an important part of your recovery." Pyrrha insisted. "You have to do it. You can barely lift a can of paint in your current condition. Besides, the longer you keep at it the more used to it your body will get. Soon it'll be easy and routine."

"And then Doc will make it harder." Ruby said. "Please just let me stay home."

Pyrrha felt like a mother goading her child to go to school. "Tell you what, if you go I'll reward you." She said. "Tomorrow I'll teach you how to bake cookies."

"That's a tempting offer but I think it needs a little more." Ruby pressed.

Pyrrha thought for a moment. "While we're cooking I'll wear nothing but an apron." Pyrrha offered. So much for being motherly.

"Sold!" Ruby exclaimed. "To the gym!"

Ruby struggled through her physical therapy session. Even with Pyrrha's promised reward and her constant encouragement, it was tough to keep going. Doc was brutal. Whenever Ruby mastered something she would crank up the difficulty. Ruby had to wonder if doing her physical therapy at a gym for professional athletes had been a mistake. Perhaps someone used to working with people in a more normal state of physical health would be a bit more lenient. Ruby considered giving up but that would have disappointed Pyrrha, and Ruby was not about to do that.

After working out Ruby headed for the locker room to shower and change. When she emerged in a fresh set of clothes she found Pyrrha talking to Weiss and Blake. "What's up?" Ruby asked.

"We were just talking about how we don't hang out enough." Blake replied.

"Yes, we haven't done anything together since you've been back." Weiss said. "I thought we could do something fun."

"What did you have in mind?" Ruby asked.

"That's what we were trying to figure out." Pyrrha replied. "We really haven't come up with anything."

"Why don't we go to the Vale Art Museum?" Ruby suggested. "I haven't been there in ages."

"That's a wonderful idea." Weiss said.

"I don't know, I'm not huge on art." Blake admitted. "Unless it's Ruby's that is."

"Come on, they have all kinds of stuff there." Ruby said. "They even have old armor and weapons on display."

"Armor and weapons?" Blake said. "That might be interesting."

"I'm on board if the rest of you are." Pyrrha said.

"It's just down to you Blake." Weiss said.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." Blake shrugged.

"Is tomorrow good?" Weiss asked.

"Pyrrha and I already have plans." Ruby said. "Sexy plans."

"Ruby!" Pyrrha exclaimed, starting to blush.

"Sunday's no good but we could probably go Monday." Blake suggested.

"Monday would be perfect." Pyrrha said. "We'll see you then."

"Enjoy those sexy plans tomorrow." Blake laughed.

On the way home from the gym Ruby and Pyrrha stopped at the store to gather the necessary ingredients for the next day's culinary adventure. Expecting Ruby's cooking difficulties to cause problems, Pyrrha was sure to get more than needed of everything, just in case. The next day Pyrrha set about instructing Ruby on how to make her favorite cookies, and true to her word she did so in nothing but an apron, though she found it incredibly embarrassing. Ruby had on more than one occasion told Pyrrha that she was cute when she was embarrassed, so Pyrrha figured it was all adding to Ruby's fun.

"Alright Ruby, stop staring at my ass and let's get to work." Pyrrha said, her voice more nervous than commanding. "Preheat the oven to 375 degrees."

Ruby stepped up to the stove and looked at the dials. "Uh…" She said.

"It's the middle one." Pyrrha said. "375."

"Got it." Ruby said. She leaned in close, making sure it was turned exactly to 375. "Alright. What's next?"

"Alright, we need two big bowls." Pyrrha said. She reached up to a high shelf to grab them, setting them down on the counter in front of Ruby. "First crack two eggs in."

Ruby tapped an egg on the edge of one of the bowls until it cracked. She tried to split it open with her fingers the same way she had seen Pyrrha do it before, but completely crushed the shell, sprinkling fragments into the bowl. "Oh crap." Ruby groaned.

"Don't worry about it." Pyrrha said. "Just pick out the bits of shell and try to do better with the next one."

Ruby picked out the shell fragments and grabbed another egg. Again shen tapped it on the edge of the bowl then positioned her fingers in the resulting crack. This time she pulled as gently as possible. The shell cracked open in line with the initial crack, unzipping to let the contents drop out cleanly. "Hey, I didn't screw it up." Ruby said.

Pyrrha smiled and nodded. "Now add ¾ of a cup of sugar, and ¾ of a cup of brown sugar." She instructed. Ruby carefully measured the sugar then poured it into the bowl. She repeated the process with the brown sugar. "Good. Next up is a stick of butter. Just plop it in." Ruby grabbed the butter, took off the wrapper and dropped it into the bowl. "Now, a teaspoon of vanilla extract." Ruby grabbed the measuring spoons and started pouring in the vanilla. "No, that's a tablespoon. You want the small one."

"Oh, right." Ruby said. She dumped out what she had already poured into the sink then set about using the proper measurement. Her hands were a bit shaky and she managed to spill some of the liquid onto the floor, but managed to get the proper amount into the bowl.

"Now use the mixer to...well...mix it." Pyrrha said. She handed Ruby the electric mixer. Ruby flicked the switch to turn it on and plunged it into the bowl of ingredients. "Good. Time to work on the second bowl." Ruby put the mixer down on the edge of the first bowl. "First up is the flour. Grab the bag for me."

Ruby picked up the bag of flour, positioned on the far end of the counter. She started walking it back but her socked feet slipped on the vanilla extract she had spilled earlier. In a panic she flailed for anything to grab and the bag went flying. Ruby managed to catch herself on the counter but the bag hit Pyrrha in the face and exploded in a large white cloud. Somehow she caught what remained of the bag, now mostly empty. Pyrrha stood there, her mouth agape, her face and hair powdered white. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Ruby gasped. Pyrrha just stood there. "Uh...Pyrrha...are you okay?"

Pyrrha's stunned expression disappeared, replaced by a wicked grin. With a flick of her wrists she emptied the rest of the bag into Ruby's face. Now it was Ruby's turn to look shocked. Pyrrha saw their reflection in the nearby window. She started laughing hysterically. "I can't believe that just happened." She giggled.

Ruby looked and started laughing too. "It's a shame halloween isn't for a few months." She said. "We've got the ghost look down."

Pyrrha stopped her laughing after a bit. "Alright, good thing I got the extra bag." She said. "Grab that one, and try not to throw it."

"You got it." Ruby said. She picked up the second bag of flour and walked back to the bowls with extra care.

"Measure out 2 and ¼ cups." Pyrrha said. "Then pour it into the second bowl." Ruby did so, spilling flour all over the counter in the process. Pyrrha decided to ignore the growing mess. "Okay, a teaspoon of salt." Ruby grabbed the measuring spoons and scooped out some salt, quickly pouring it into the bowl. "No...that was the tablespoon again."

"Oh...whoops." Ruby groaned.

"That's okay." Pyrrha said. She edged Ruby aside and used a spoon to scoop out most of the excess salt. "A teaspoon, teaspoon of baking soda next." Careful to use the right measure, Ruby poured the proper amount into the bowl. "Okay, now pour the second bowl into the first, then mix." Ruby poured the second bowl as instructed, switched on the mixer, and went to work. "That's enough." Pyrrha said after a few seconds. "You don't want to over mix." Ruby switched off the mixed and raised it to her face, sticking out her tongue to lick the blades. "Stop! Don't do that!"

"Why not?" Ruby asked. "It looks tasty."

"If it turns on you won't have a tongue to taste it with." Pyrrha warmed. She took hold of the mixer and removed one of the blades. "There, if you must."

Ruby smiled and licked the blade. "Doesn't taste as good as it looks." She reported.

"Time for the chocolate chips." Pyrrha said. Open up a bag and pour it in.

Ruby grabbed a bag of chocolate chips and tried to tear it open. It was well packaged. She tried harder, pulling with all her might. The bag failed spectacularly and chocolate chips went flying everywhere. "Oops." Ruby said.

"Wow, you really are bad at this." Pyrrha laughed. There was only one backup bag so Pyrrha clipped it open with scissors before handing it to Ruby to pour it in. "Now mix it all with this spoon." Ruby took the spoon and mixed the batter.

"Now what?" Ruby asked.

"Now scoop out chunks with the tablespoon - that's the big one - and squish them down on the trays." Pyrrha replied. A pair of trays were already prepared with paper sheets on them. "Space them out, about two inches. They'll grow in the oven and we don't want to end up with one giant cookie."

"Speak for yourself." Ruby laughed. But she did as instructed.

"Now use oven mitts to put the trays in the oven." Pyrrha said.

"But they're not hot." Ruby said.

"But the oven is." Pyrrha reminded her.

"Oh...right." Ruby said. She slipped on a pair of oven mitts. Pyrrha opened the oven for her and Ruby slipped the trays inside. "Now what?"

"Now we wait." Pyrrha said. "They should be done in less than 15 minutes."

"So...what should we do while we wait?" Ruby asked. She reached out and started to push Pyrrha's apron askew, attempting to sneak a peek, but Pyrrha brushed her away.

"We need to start cleaning up this mess." Pyrrha said. "You got more food on the counter and the floor than in the bowls."

"Fine." Ruby sighed. Getting frisky would have to wait.

After what seemed an eternity but was only just over 10 minutes, Pyrrha opened the oven and looked at the cookies. They had transformed from fat globs to flat discs and were golden in color. "They're ready to come out." Pyrrha said. "Put on the oven mitts and lay them over here." She pointed to a metal rack on the counter where the hot trays could rest without doing damage.

"On it!" Ruby exclaimed. She slipped on the oven mitts and carefully extracted the trays of cookies. "Let's eat!"

"No, they have to cool for a few minutes." Pyrrha said. "If you try to pick on up now you'll just burn yourself, and the cookie will fall apart."

"Both of those sound bad." Ruby said. "But I hate waiting."

"How about a kiss to pass the time?" Pyrrha suggested. The smile on Ruby's face was confirmation of her agreement to the proposition, so Pyrrha bent down while Ruby wrapped her arms around Pyrrha's neck. Their lips met and they shared a long kiss that tasted much like the flour they were both covered in. When Ruby pulled away she had a devious smile on her face. "Ruby what…" Before Pyrrha could finish asking the top half of her apron dropped down, exposing her breasts. "I can't believe you untied my neck strap while we were kissing. You are your sister's sister."

"So, can we eat yet?" Ruby asked, staring at Pyrrha's chest.

"You can have one cookie." Pyrrha said. "Then we need to finish cleaning up this mess." She sighed, looking at the apocalyptic carnage left behind by Ruby's clumsiness. "Well, at least I don't have much in the way of clothes to wash."

Coco could tell something was up with Yang. All they ever did anymore was get drunk and have sex. Sure, that was the basic nature of their relationship for pretty much its entire duration, but lately the two things that had been the focus became all there was. There were no entertaining conversations, no trips to fancy restaurants and no more of Yang's little practical jokes. The drinking was different as well. Before they would go out drinking frequently but only get drunk rarely and usually accidentally. Now Yang made damn sure they got drunk. Even the sex was different. Sure, Yang had always been rather...vigorous...but now Coco would classify it as angry, frustrated and almost violent. It was pleasurable to be sure, but out of the ordinary.

Coco decided she did not want to just fuck and get wasted. She met up with Yang on Sunday with something else in mind. Yang walked into Coco's apartment and immediately began undressing. "What are you doing?" Coco asked.

"What does it look like?" Yang countered. "Clothed sex is interesting but it's not really my thing. I like to be able to see everything."

"We can fuck later, let's go out." Coco said. She was dressed and ready for a trip. "Let's go shopping."

"Coco I...I just really feel pent up right now." Yang complained.

"Sweety, I've been dying to fill out your wardrobe for months." Coco said. "If you go shopping with me I'll give you free reign tonight."

"I'm pretty happy with my wardrobe." Yang said.

"You've been wearing that same jacket almost every day since we met." Coco said.

"Ruby gave it to me…" Yang started.

"And you'll wear through it if you don't start wearing other things too." Coco cut her off. "Come on, I saw the way you looked at that leather jacket the last time we went out."

"Fine." Yang sighed. "But when we get back we are doing some freaky shit."

"I think you'll find your definition of freaky is rather lackluster compared to mine." Coco said with a wink.

Coco took Yang to a nearby mall that had some rather fancy clothing stores. A few of them even featured Coco's designs. Still, it was not the trip she had envisioned. Sure, Yang got pretty excited when Coco bought her a terrifyingly expensive leather jacket, but other than that she was kind of just there. Coco suggested outfit after outfit but Yang had no enthusiasm. She was more a doll Coco was playing dress-up with than an active participant. For a while Coco assumed Yang was angry with her, but it eventually became clear that Yang was just sad. Yang was never sad. Even when Ruby was in the hospital she was able to manage a little happiness, however forced.

At lunch time the pair hit the food court, purchasing some very mediocre Chinese food. "This stuff isn't great but I've had worse." Coco said. "What do you think?" Yang just shrugged. She had purchased a tiny portion. Yang normally ate huge amounts of food. She had to eat a lot to fuel her workouts. In addition to her evident depression it seemed she had no appetite. "Are you sure that's enough for you?" Coco asked after Yang finished up her food.

"I'll be alright." Yang said. "So, are we heading home now or what?"

"Not yet." Coco replied. "There's still a store or two I'd like to visit." Yang sighed and sunk in her chair. "How about you pick the next one? Cheap, fancy, whatever."

"I have an idea." Yang said. She looked up and spotted what she was looking for. Now there was fire in her eyes. She grabbed Coco by the wrist and almost pulled her along.

Coco saw the store coming. The Fall was an adult boutique. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind." Coco said as Yang dragged her along. Yang ignored her.

Once inside the store Yang let go and disappeared down one of aisles. "Just think of all the fun we could have with this stuff." She called. Coco just stood where she had been released, not surprised but a little disappointed. She saw Yang moving around and could hear her when she was out of sight. "Hey Coco!" Yang exclaimed.

"Yang…" Coco started as she turned to face her.

Yang waved a disturbingly large dildo in front of Coco's face. It giggled around, clearly amusing Yang. Coco just stared at her with a blank expression. Coco had not come to the mall to visit this place and Yang knew it. "Come on Coco." Yang implored.

"Buy it or don't." Coco said. "I'm leaving."

"You're no fun." Yang pouted.

"You're not being very fun at the moment." Coco said. "I came here to go clothes shopping with my girlfriend, not to play around with sex toys."

"Fine." Yang sighed. She tossed the dildo over her shoulder and it bounced along the floor. "Where to next?"

"Hey, put that back where you got it!" The store's proprietor shouted. Being regular customers, Yang and Coco knew Cinder, and Cinder knew that Yang knew better than to toss the merchandise on the floor.

"Fuck off slut queen!" Yang snapped with a look of rage on her face.

"Wow...Yang…" Coco gasped. "Calm down."

Yang seethed for a moment, her teeth gritted, her fists clenched. Then it all fell away and she frowned. "Sorry." She said meekly. She turned to Cinder. "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?" Coco asked.

"Don't worry about it." Yang said.

"I'm worried about you." Coco said.

"Drop it, please." Yang sighed. "If you do I'll be nice and go shopping just like you want."

Coco was unsure of what to do. She wanted to help Yang, she truly did, but it was neither the time nor the place. "Fine." Coco relented. Almost before she spoke Yang was already heading for the exit. Coco stood there for a moment, stunned at what she had witnessed. She had never seen Yang angry, and certainly never seen her blaze through such a range of negative emotion in such a short time. "Cinder, I'm really sorry. She's going through a rough patch…"

"Whatever." Cinder said. "If it happens again you won't be welcome back."

"I understand." Coco said. She chased after Yang who was waiting just outside. True to her word Yang looked at clothes with Coco and even feigned some interest, but her heart was clearly not in it. It hurt Coco to see Yang like that. It hurt her more that Yang would not talk to her about it.