The Only One
Even after talking to Weiss and trying to boost her mood, Ruby had been unable to do much else other than get her to at least talk to some of the other dateless guests and stop fretting over the decorations. It was a feat worth celebrating considering how upset Weiss was, but to Ruby it was hardly a victory. Weiss was still just putting on fake smiles and pretending to be happy.
It was kind of strange how they had all gone to such great lengths to make Blake come to the party and enjoy herself when none of them were really enjoying the party. Deciding that there wasn't much else she could do by being at the party, Ruby started to head for the entrance, looking to retire early for the night without her teammates only to run into Neptune. She glared at him and he gave her a nervous smile. "You know, you--"
"I know."
"Huh?"
"Where's Weiss? I owe her an apology and an explanation. You have every right to be upset with me too, but you can give me a lecture after I talk to Weiss."
Ruby warily eyed him for a moment longer, but his words were sincere and he really did look sorry for everything he'd done. "She's over there," pointed out Ruby. Neptune gazed out across the dance floor towards the other side of the wall where all the windows were and quickly spied Weiss.
"Thanks."
"Wait." Neptune froze.
"Yeah?"
"Who else gave you a lecture?"
"... Jaune. He's still outside, I think." Without further ado, he made off to talk to Weiss before someone else could get her attention and try to convince her into letting having a dance with them.
Surprised, Ruby went outside to look for Jaune and thank him. It didn't take her long to find him. "Hey Jaune."
He seemed startled to find her there with him, but muttered a hello back. "Oh, hey Ruby..."
"What's got you so down?" Was anybody other than Blake enjoying themselves at this party?
"Oh, you know, the usual..." grunted Jaune. "Hey, Ruby, you're Weiss' partner, right?" Ruby just gave him an exasperated look. "Right... um... I guess what I'm trying to say is... um... ugh... Do you... Do you think I have a chance with Weiss?"
"Jaune..." started Ruby, pursing her lips.
"Sorry, sorry. I know, we agreed we wouldn't talk about me and Weiss. It's just that I really like her and I wish she'd give me a chance is all. I mean, she gave Neptune a chance, didn't she? Why won't she give me the same chance?" sighed Jaune.
"You know... if you really want to know, you ought to ask her yourself. Jaune, you were brave enough to fight that Ursa all by yourself. You're definitely brave enough to confront Weiss about this." Ruby didn't know much about romance, and it was why she had made Jaune promise not to ask her for help with Weiss, but seeing him like this was just too much. "You can keep asking all of us for advice all you want, but none of us are Weiss. We don't know the answer any better than you do."
She might not know anything about romance, but Yang made something very clear to her once she had hit puberty: if she liked someone and wanted to know if they liked her too, the best way to go about it was to just be honest and ask the person she liked, and then if she wanted advice for anything after that, she ought to ask her instead of dad. But that last tidbit probably wasn't worth sharing with Jaune.
"Ah... I guess you're right. Thanks Ruby."
Smiling, Ruby shook her head. "It's the least I could do. You went through a lot of trouble for Weiss' sake. I heard from Neptune," she explained as Jaune started to ask her how she had known.
"Well, is there anything I can do to help you out?" asked Jaune, standing up straighter and smiling back at her. "This is supposed to be a party after all, and it doesn't look like you're having fun either."
"Neither is Pyrrha. Is she okay?" asked Ruby, remembering Pyrrha's entrance earlier. Yang had been fulfilling her promise to Blake about being her first dance and Weiss had to go help with something related to the party so they had left her in charge of welcoming guests. Pyrrha had barely acknowledged her and hadn't even said hello. She had wanted to run after her, but one of the professors had just came and was talking ot her so it'd have been rude of her to just leave. The last time she had seen Pyrrha was when she started to go upstairs and it looked like Jaune had followed after her.
But Jaune's surprised answer said otherwise. "What?! What's wrong with Pyrrha? Do I need to have a talk with her date too?" demanded Jaune angrily.
"What are you talking about? Pyrrha came alone. I thought you knew that, being her partner and all."
"What? How's that possible? I'm sure you just missed her date is all."
"No... She came alone and she wasn't excited about it all either. I greeted her at the door and she didn't even say 'hi' to me." She watched as Jaune's expression changed from disbelief to guilt and then determination. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?!" called out Ruby as Jaune started to make a break for it.
"To find a dress!" called back Jaune, disappearing into the night.
". . ." She wondered if the punch had been spiked or if Jaune had been drugged on something. Shaking her head in disbelief, she considered going after him to make sure if he was alright. She had misheard him, right? There was no way Weiss would've let anyone spike the punch. She'd been around the punch bowl for half the night too. Then again... Yang would let people spike it and she had shooed her off after finding her at the punch bowl... Five minutes later he was back and most definitely in a dress. "Uh... Jaune..."
"I told Pyrrha if she didn't have a date to the dance I'd wear a dress. I don't think this will make up for me neglecting her, but it'll cheer her up, right?" explained Jaune, modeling the dress for her. She wanted to know where and how Jaune had managed to get his hands on a dress his size so soon, but no words could formulate such a question coherently.
Ruby had thought she had seen it all, but clearly she had not. Far too stunned for words, she just nodded lightly as Jaune entered the hall, laughter quickly following suit. This night was just getting more and more bizarre. A movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention and she quickly shifted her gaze. Yep. The night was just getting more and more bizarre, but this... this was something that was more her style.
It was a split second decision. Hurrying after the silhouette she had seen, she punched in her coordinates so she could retrieve Crescent Rose.