Silver Succubus Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“I’m so bored!” Ruby whined and threw her head back.

“Ruby.” Weiss giggled at the cute leader and her ever impatient nature.

“Bwaaah! Booooored!” Ruby bemoaned.

“You were the one who was all worried about this.” Weiss made quite the face.

“Yeah! But! But! Books!?” Ruby gestured vigorously to the pile taller than her. “Not just books! More books than we can read in a year!”

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.” Weiss sighed and thumbed through one to a promising chapter.

“It’s horrible! I’m dying!” Ruby whined. She whined and whined and- Weiss could recognize the face that supplanted Ruby’s complaining. “You know… there is something we could do to make it less boring…” Ruby pumped her eyebrows.

“No! The last time we did that, you ended up with a glowing belly… plus… I don’t much like the fact that you were hiding that it hurt.”

“It felt good when you helped~” Ruby sung sweetly. “It only hurts a little now, but I’m sure a little snack would-”

“No Rube. I love you, but we really should have done this the first time. Something is up with you, and I want to make sure you are going to be ok.”

Ruby groaned loudly. “Uugh! This is so boring!” She returned to her complaints. “Why don’t we just call my dad and ask him?”

“Call your dad?” Weiss paused, the pages falling down out of her hands.

“Yeah, if it’s connected to my eyes or whatever… maybe it is somehting I got from my mom?”

Weiss’s face fell into her palm. “Why didn’t we start there?”

“Aside from the fact that it is mortifying to try and talk to my dad about… this?”

“Ok, ok, good point.” Weiss nodded.

“Plus… it’s just…”

“It’s ok hun.” Weiss pulled Ruby in for a hug. Her mother was always a sensitive subject. Weiss was just happy that she could be there for Ruby more effectively when it came up now.

“So… what are you going to say?” Weiss questioned Ruby after they settled back in Ruby’s room.

“I don’t know? I- probably just ask him about my mom? About what he knew about her eyes?”

“Has he ever talked to you about them before?”

“No.” Ruby shook her head.

“What makes you think he will talk about it now?”

“Until now I wasn’t my own night light?” Ruby tried to laugh it off.

“Yeah… good point.” Weiss nodded.

“But… if I tell him… the vagaries of what is going on, he has to tell me whatever he knows.”

“Do you want privacy while you call him?”

Ruby shook her head. “No, I… I want you here.” She extended a hand and Weiss took to holding it hastily. Weiss didn’t stop there tho. She moved closer and wrapped Ruby up in a gentle hug as the leader dialed up Tai.

“Hey kiddo!” Tai greeted chipper but already out of breath. “How’s training camp?”

Ruby and Weiss exchanged a little glance at each other. “Ah- what?” Ruby questioned.

“Yangy said- said you four were off at… some…” Tai mumbled and another low, raspy voice could almost be heard on the other end of the line. “Some… ah, training camp? Something or some other to prep for graduation?” Ruby figured Tai must be back at working in his garage. He was likely putting together some new project. Ruby was excited to see what he had been working on after graduation. It would be nice to go see home again.

“What? There’s no training camp.” Weiss furrowed her brows.

“Ah? I donno. She seemed a little- ah, out of breath. So maybe I just misunderstood.” Tai answered. “I called her a couple hours ago to make sure you four were still all good to drop by the house for a couple weeks to celebrate after you finish?”

Weiss and Ruby locked eyes, both realizing at the same time. Yang and Blake were away at that bed and breakfast for the weekend, assuredly the two were busy… with each other. It made complete logical sense that Yang wouldn’t want to be honest about why she was out of breath… especially when one considered what activities would have found her short on breath in the first place. Frankly, it was a shock that Yang cared to pick up.

“I- yeah, we’re still on. Yang even got that cart that hooks up to bmblb to drag the team and our stuff back home.”

“Great! Great! That’s awesome kiddo!” Tai grunted and sighed before the smack of something being hit.

“Fuck!”

“Dad! Are you alright?” Ruby yelped.

“Yeah! Yeah! I’m fine!” Tai assured, still short of breath. “Ah- just… busy. You need anythin else kiddo?”

“Yeah, I had some questions about mom.” Ruby answered. Obviously anxious about saying it, Ruby blurted it all out in a slight slur.

“Mom?”

“I- I! Ummm… something happened… do- do you know…” Ruby whimpered anxiously.

“Kiddo.” A muffled sound came from the other end of the line and Tai’s tone turned so much more serious. “Hey, hey, Kiddo, what’s up? You doing alright?” His concerned caring tone did wonders to soothe Ruby.

“I- I’m… I-”

“Sweetheart, what’s going on? Do you need Pappa to drop by? Maybe Qrow can come fly by too and the two of us can play some of those games you like? You know if you need anything; even just something to take your mind off the graduation for the weekend, we’re here for you kiddo.”

“Aww.” Weiss cooed quietly. Such a caring family seemed completely alien to her, but it was beautiful to see all the same.

“No, no, daddy, it’s not that- I- I’m fine, I swear.” Ruby sniffled.

“You sure Kiddo? I got Qrow right here!”

“Aye! Don’t hit me again!” Qrow hissed.

“Say hi!”

“Ah! Hey Rube.” Qrow sighed. “You- uugh, you sure you’re doing alright?” His ever tired and raspy voice inquired through the scroll.

Ruby giggled. “I’m sure uncle Qrow.”

“Then, what’s up Kiddo? What’s got you so worried? And what has you thinking about your mom?”

“I- umm… well, you… you know how a couple years I found about… about the eyes thing?”

“Yeah?” Tai verberaly nodded along.

“Umm… was- was there anything else about her eyes? Like anything else connected to it?”

“Not that I know of hun, but what do you mean?”

“She… never like… felt or acted weird when they glowed or anything, right?”

“Nope.”

“Did anything other than her eyes ever light up like that?”

Tai seemed to laugh on the other end of the line. “Nope, I don’t remember anything else glowing. No ‘ET go home” moments or anything. I kinda always figured the eyes were crazy enough.”

“Yeah, yeah… of course.” Ruby sighed.

“What about that mark?” Weiss whispered.

“Oh! Oh! Did- did she ever have any… like… odd tattoos? That weren’t tattoos?” Ruby added.

“What do you mean Kiddo?”

“She never like… got any markings? Or like designs on her body after she used them?”

“Like tattoos of vines or something?” Tai sounded anxious.

“Yeah! Umm! All overlapping and stuff!” Ruby cheered.

“Ah- well, Rube, you know I didn’t really see her use them all that much. And- and- umm! You know what Kiddo! Maybe Yang might know something about it!”

“Yang?”

“Yeah! Yang is down there with you at the training camp and all, right?”

“I- umm… kinda?”

“You just talk to her about it! I’m sure she’ll know something!”

“But- but why would Yang-”

“Hey! Kiddo! I love you so much, but I am working out in the woodshop with the tools and all to make sure we have room for your team! You call me after you and Yang have talked it out and-”

“What, but Yang wouldn’t-”

“Ah- I- O- shi- connection- Er- goin- b-d n’- tunnel!” Tai squeeked and the scroll beeped with the sound of the call ending.

“Well, that was weird.” Weiss scowled.

“You can say that again.”

“But, at least he seems to think Yang would know?”

“Yeah, but why the hell would she know anything about my mom? I- Summer was a mom to her too, but Yang was only like eight when she…” Ruby’s spirit fell with her contemplative expression.

“It’s ok.” Weiss assured.

“It just doesn’t make any sense. And- and Yang didn’t know anything about the eyes till the atack, and I-”

“It doesn’t make any sense.” Weiss agreed.

“And he was hiding something.”

“You sure he wasn’t just busy?” Weiss offered more because she knew the pain of being lied to by a parent than that she disagreed.

“No, he wasn’t in his workshop.”

“What?” Weiss pulled back to see Ruby better.

“He never lets anyone in there.”

“I mean, maybe he just didn’t let you and Yang in there cause kids and sharp tools in woodshops or anything?”

“No, it’s a his space thing. He never lets Qrow in there either.”

They both scowled as they processed Tai’s lies and what they might mean.

“So… what do you wanna do hun?” Weiss questioned.

“I’m not going to ask Yang.”

“You’re not?”

“Not until I talk to my dad again first.”

“So, what? You just want to wait till school ends and we go see him?”

“No. There’s no chance I’m going to wait. He’s answering my questions this weekend.” Ruby’s eyes burned with determination.

End of Chapter 8