Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ruby Rose was cold.

She wasn’t freezing- she’d been colder, even if you didn’t count sparring matches against Weiss that had ended with her partially- or fully- encased in a block of ice. The young huntress had learned more about cold climates recently than she had ever wanted, from lectures on the dangers of frostbite to the discovery, in defiance of everything Ruby had learned from her childhood movies, that that a gentle snowfall like the one currently ongoing actually meant it WASN’T that cold. (Relatively speaking.) Weiss had called this a fun fact. Ruby didn’t think it was very fun.

Seriously, how could it be too cold to snow?  

Thankfully, it wasn’t one of those bitterly cold nights, where even the aura-protected Huntsmen and Huntresses dared not stay idle outside, opting to either monitor the situation from heated interiors or stay moving, trading physical exertion for warmth. No, tonight was mild by Atlessian standards, puffy clumps of snow meandering down and falling to where the caped reaper stood vigil on a rooftop, the flakes clinging to Ruby’s cloak as a chill permeated to her bones. It wasn’t life-threatening, but still more than cold enough that warmth felt like a distant memory. It didn’t help that metal was a fantastic conductor of heat (or absence thereof) and Ruby’s hands were wrapped around a rather sizable piece of hardware.

Maaaaaaaaan . Ruby thought to herself, flexing her fingers in an attempt to keep them limber. This suuuuuuuuucks. Maybe I should put hand warmers in Crescent Rose. I wonder if I could expense that to Ironwood? “Yes, general, these dust microradiators are absolutely necessary to maintain my combat effectiveness. While we’re at it, can we discuss the tragic deficiency of cookies in the canteen?” She exhaled loudly, watching the crystallized vapor swirl and vanish. Raking her eyes across the horizon in a futile hope that anything had changed in the last thirty seconds, the sniper found nothing of note except the same persistently flickering street lamp that she was becoming increasingly tempted to shoot if only to make it stop. Opting to avoid the wanton destruction for the time being, Ruby instead crouched down and retracted her limbs until she was little more than a shivering red lump. 

Trying to keep herself occupied, the young leader began trying to plot out where her teammates might be on their respective patrols. Weiss was easy- she would be inside one of the academy’s towers, having been practicing using her summons to stand vigil in a wide radius. Yang was harder- she tended to stay near the outskirts of the more heavily populated areas, knowing full well the increased risk of collateral damage from her more… aggressive fighting style. When they’d spread out at the beginning of the night the blonde had headed south, so assuming she took a right at the ruined bookstore like usual, and moving at her usual pace… Ruby pulled out her scroll, taking note of the displayed time. Yang probably had passed the candy store and was approaching the hotel.

“Rouge to Sunspot, can I get a, umm…” Ruby chewed on her lip, suddenly reminded that she lost two years of vocabulary studies when she jumped ahead to Beacon as well. “Can I have a vector on your, uh… locus?” She nodded to herself, feeling quite proud. Yep, that was what a cool Huntress leader sounded like.

The voice that came over the leader’s earpiece wasn’t the familiar one of her sister but instead the prim tone of the girl’s partner. “Ruby, are you trying to mimic Atlessian comms again?”

“No…” Ruby’s face flushed the same color as her cloak, and she rapidly switched channels to a private one between her and her sister. “…Hey Yang…”

Ruby could hear the grin on the blonde’s face. “Yeah, little sis?”

“Where uh… where are you on your patrol right now…?”

Yang’s voice switched to a cartoonishly authoritative tone, “Copy, Rouge, I’ve just completed my trajectory change at the hotel, continuing northerly approach. Sunspot ETA to rendezvous in ninety mikes.” Ruby groaned inwardly. How was it that Yang could sound cool even when she was teasing, but every time Ruby tried it was like a kid playing Huntsman? But, despite the embarrassment, she smiled. She was pretty close about Yang’s position, at least. ‘Low operational awareness’? Who, her? Harriet could take that ‘Low operational awareness' and shove it right up her-

“You’re making good time, Yang. Forget your coat?”

Yang’s voice softened. “Blake and I were going to meet up, maybe grab a drink at that 24-hour diner. Night’s been slow, you know?”

“Yeah.” Ruby nodded, forgetting for a moment her sister couldn’t see her. “Have fun, Yang.” Clicking her mic off, the frigid reaper suddenly had a thought and began reaching for a spare magazine. Speaking of Blake…

On a different night, during a particularly brisk assignment, Blake had shown Ruby an old guerilla trick. Gingerly removing the top bullet from the stack, Ruby replaced the magazine in the pouch and tried to remember exactly what the dark-haired ninja had taught her. First step, remove the actual projectile from the cartridge. That was important. Setting the sizable bullet to the side, the dark-haired girl fixed her eyes on the silver casing. Next was… remove the primer. Or else you might find yourself short a few fingers, she recalled. Sure, she had aura, so she’d PROBABLY be fine but still… ouch.

The round now stripped of its two most immediately dangerous components, Ruby carefully rotated the rim of the cartridge. One quarter turn. Holding her breath and scrunching up her eyes, she let her aura slowly trickle into the disassembled ammunition. Ruby exhaled as she felt the casing heat up pleasantly, the dust inside activating. Tension slowly seeped from her body as her fingers regained some of their feeling, and Ruby allowed herself a long, satisfied breath.

Yep. This was the life. Ruby definitely needed to get Blake a gift or something. She shivered, the newfound warmth in her hands drawing extra attention towards the chill in her core.

Maybe a hug. Hugs were nice. And warm…

Motion flickered at the edge of Ruby’s vision and she sprang into action, shouldering the stock of Crescent Rose and deploying the optic. Already adopting a shooting posture Ruby rapidly tracked her barrel across the cityscape spread below her, silver eyes darting as she sought out the source of-

It was the streetlamp. That same dysfunctional streetlamp that had irked her all night. Her crosshairs lingered on the bulb, anger and adrenaline surging outward from her chest. 

No one would need to know… Ruby seethed, finger hovering over the trigger. Just… a single… twitch… She exhaled, lowering her weapon. Once again, morality won the day. Huzzah.

Even if that light totally had it coming. Resolving herself to take another scan of the city before returning to her literally weapons-grade hand warmer, Ruby was met with blocks and blocks of nothing- ignoring any particularly infuriating streetlamps- until a twinkling green dot in the distance caught her eye. The Guardian of Mantle. Penny Polendina.

Her friend.

A soothed smile slid onto Ruby’s face. She thought she’d lost Penny back at Beacon. Mourned her. Fought for her. Remembered her. Even forgiven Pyrrha for her role, as… temporary as that ended up being. And now she had her back. Ruby shook her head. She didn’t have Penny back, Atlas did. They all did. She didn’t get to monopolize the girl just because they’d formed a connection in what felt like a lifetime ago.

Even if she was Penny’s first friend. First confidant. The first one Penny hugged when they had reconnected in Mantle. And certainly the only one she had hugged like that. Ruby swore her ribs still hurt sometimes, but it was so worth it. 

But Ruby also knew that Penny was far too important for her to have any sort of ownership over the ginger android. Even during these relatively calm nights Penny’s strength and mobility was worth at least an entire squad of Huntsmen, probably two. Her friend was unyielding, running patrols (or as the Atlessian military insisted on calling them, much to Ruby’s chagrin, sorties) every night, only resting for a handful of hours each day. As much as her friend might claim that she didn’t tire like her more squishy contemporaries, Ruby still worried the girl was running herself ragged, motivated by some misplaced anxiety over the validity of her own existence. But at least Ruby could go to sleep knowing she was still important to Penny, and- wait, was she coming closer?

Detaching Crescent Rose’s scope so as to not point the weapon at her friend, even in amnesty, she magnified the distant green flare until she could make out a modicum of detail. It was, in fact, Penny, a trace of orange marking her hair whipping behind her in the cold night air. As far as Ruby could figure Penny was on a direct course towards her, the guardian’s distant form stationary in the sky outside of a gradual increase in magnitude. For a brief moment the red-haired scythe user wondered why her friend seemed to be heading towards her position, as Penny usually patrolled all through the night, her watch lasting until the Atlessian regulars relieved her.

And then her heart dropped as she saw the far-off light flicker and vanish.

Immediately Ruby sprang to her feet, unsure of what- if anything- she could do, but knowing she had to do something. Breathing a sigh of release as she saw the light reappear, the worried Huntress once again fixed her sight on her friend. 

Penny seemed to be struggling. Her legs wobbled as her boosters sputtered in and out, the usually uniform green energy coming out choked and uneven. Still scrambling for anything she could do, Ruby weighed her options. The distance was doable, especially as the airborne figure continued closing, but catching a moving target like that was… questionable. And even if she managed that miracle, Ruby didn’t know if Crescent Rose’s recoil was enough to lift both her and her robotic friend. Penny was still gaining altitude, negating immediate danger, but every time she lost propulsion Ruby’s breath caught in her throat as the young Huntress couldn’t help but imagine her friend fading away into the night sky.

She wasn’t going to lose Penny. Not again.

Okay. Penny was heading towards her. Considering she had the entire city mapped out in her head, complete with overlays of all the assigned patrol zones, it probably wasn’t by accident. Reaching up to her earpiece, she tried hailing the incoming android.

“Penny, this is Ruby, do you copy?” Instead of the traditional faint static of an empty channel, Ruby recoiled as she was instead met with a painful wall of electrical feedback. Trying one more time, she squeezed the transmitter. Three times means an emergency. “Penny Penny Penny, this is Ruby. Please copy.”

Ruby exhaled. She’d have to trust her friend. Switching her comm to an open frequency, she spoke as clearly and calmly as she could. “This is RWBY Actual broadcasting to all active and deployed defense forces. Angel may be down. I repeat, Angel may be down. RWBY One will mark position and attempt to assist. RWBY Two, please divert and adjust coverage.” She released her mic, too distracted to realize she’d just issued a textbook communication dispatch. So long as Salem didn’t choose this exact moment to attack- Ruby cursed, now she’d jinxed it- Weiss could cover her sector for a little bit, at least long enough for her to figure out what was going on. Loading a crimson bullet into Crescent Rose she hoisted the scythe towards the sky and fired, the flare igniting and canvassing the area in a warm red light. Reaching for her earpiece once more, her voice was soft and painfully hopeful.

“Penny, if you can hear me, I’m here. I’m here.” Her eyes locked on the distant but impending green dot, she saw it blaze larger, whether as a coincidence or in response to her actions, and Ruby found herself, for the first time in a long, long while, praying. Praying to any forces that might be listening.

Ruby’s earpiece sparked to life, the voice on the other end warped and fragmented. “Ru..y-.… inc… om.. ng-…” As broken as it may have been, the voice was still unmistakable to the scythe wielder. Tracking the green streak through the sky Ruby watched as it pitched upward, still drawing nearer but climbing higher into the cold air. Ruby speculated that Penny was trying to gain altitude before the mechanical girl’s boosters cut out with a final, haunting pop.

Uh oh. No longer needing any magnification to make out the form of her friend, Ruby watched as the ginger-haired girl tumbled through the inky night sky, thrusters doing little more than sparking helplessly. Her parabola arced towards Ruby, but she was falling fast. Too fast.

No, no no no no no…

Ruby backed away from the edge of her roof, bending forward into a four-point starting position. Willing all of her strength into her legs and pouring aura into her semblance, she launched herself forward, a red blur streaking towards the rapidly approaching girl. The two collided in a torrent of rose petals, Ruby having done little more than slow down the artificial girl’s descent as they slammed back down into the roof, Ruby’s aura barely holding as the pair carved a groove into the unfortunate building’s trusses. 

Groaning, Ruby lamented aura’s inability to defy Yewton’s laws of physics. For every action an equal or opposite reaction, indeed. Owwwww. Why did I think that was a good idea… Craning her neck she was met with a head of orange hair, the heavy form of the hair’s owner pinning her down. Oh, right. Friend. Ruby let her head fall back down onto the cratered roof. Eh. Worth it. The figure atop her stirred, rolling off of her and landing beside her with a heavy thud. Turning her head, Ruby found herself starting right into Penny’s brilliant emerald eyes, a weak grin on the bionic girl’s face.

“Sal…u…tations…”

Ruby’s face split into a relieved smile. Pushing herself upright (and wincing as what felt like every disk in her spine popped,) she gazed down at her friend. “Hey, Penny?”

A thin hum seemed to be the only response Penny could manage. “Mm?”

“Let’s not do that again.”

“Mmmm.”

A long silence settled over the pair, their faces still bathed in the gentle red glow of Ruby’s flare. It wasn’t until the dust-infused flame fizzled out that the dark-haired huntress realized she probably should update the rest of her team and reached for her earpiece.

“This is-“ Ouch, that was a jaw pop- “this is RWBY Actual to all units. Penny is-… Angel is secure. RWBY Actual over.” She paused, hand still hovering over the transmitter. “Or out. Whatever.” Releasing the mic she exhaled, realizing just how sore her ribs were. And her boobs. Wow, her boobs hurt. It was a good thing her chest had started to catch up to Yang’s recently because if this was what it was like with padding… Despite everything, she started to laugh.

Penny pushed herself until she was partially upright. “Ruby? Are you alright?” Ruby began laughing harder, even as each breath strained her bruised torso.

“Oh, it’s just… Just thinking about how it was good that I caught you instead of Weiss!” Penny cocked her head inquisitively.

“Weiss? But would she not have been able to slow me down with her glyphs?”

“No, no, that’s not what I-“ Ruby paused mid-laugh, realization dawning on her face. “Shoot! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Now it was Penny’s turn to laugh. “It is okay, Ruby, you were very gallant. Almost like a Huntress from one of your stories. I might even say… dashing?” Her gaze lowered as her laughter died out. “And I… did come to you for a reason.” Both of the girls now sobered up, Ruby gazed at Penny with a concerned expression.

“Penny, what… What happened?” Penny looked away sheepishly. If Ruby didn’t know better, she’d say the ginger girl looked guilty .

“So, you are aware I have been running all these sorties?”

“Yeah…”

“And you know how my father has been so busy with the Amity project?”

“…Yeah…”

Penny’s voice lowered in both pitch and volume. “And you know how I’m not exactly a… real girl?”

Ruby punched the girl on the shoulder, immediately regretting it as she cradled her bruised knuckles. “You stop that, you’re as real a girl as-“ Her eyes widened and then narrowed, accusation brewing within them. “Penny, you didn’t…”

The redhead looked away, biting her lip. “So I might have, maybe, possibly… ”

“Penny…”

“I’ve been ignoring maintenance!” The android stared pleadingly at her first friend with those big green eyes that Ruby just couldn’t stay mad at. “I just… did not want to bother my father and… Wanted to help…”

Ruby moved her hand towards Penny’s head and the ginger girl flinched, expecting another hit, but instead found her friend gently stroking her hair. When she spoke, Ruby’s voice was soft and forgiving. “Penny, you know Pietro loves you. He would never want you neglecting yourself just for a few extra patrols. No matter how busy he might be.” Continuing to run her fingers through the artificial girl’s surprisingly soft hair, Ruby grinned. “Did you… flinch, just then?” Penny blushed.

“It’s psychosomatic!”

Still grinning, Ruby captured Penny in a hug. “What did I say? Real girl.” Feeling just how warm the other girl was, she gasped and moved closer. Looking up from her new position at Penny’s side, she stared at the pleasantly toasty girl. “So, that explains why you were having issues earlier.” She winced, ears still ringing slightly. “Comms issues, too… But why me?” Penny squirmed.

“While hardly optimal my performance was… acceptable, for a while. But first my sensor suite began acting up, and there was an incident with a griffon, and then my thrusters… I knew I could not make it to my father, but I could get to you.” She stared down, embarrassed, “Or, I thought I could. My estimations were… faulty.” She looked apologetically at the dark-haired Huntress. “Thank you for catching me.”

Ruby wrapped an arm around her remorseful friend. “Penny, of course. You don’t need to thank me for helping you, and certainly not for saving you. We’re friends, right?” Penny’s face glowed, an extra wave of heat exuding from her body.

“I… choose to thank you anyway.”

Ruby scooched upward, looking at Penny with a concerned expression. “But, Penny, as much as I’d love to help you, I… I don’t know how. You’re…” She trailed off, brain not finding the right words. Penny’s eyes turned downcast. 

“Not human?” 

Ruby laughed nervously. “Penny, if you were human you’d have more reason to be worried. My first-aid is… Here, look.” Separating from Penny and immediately missing the comforting warmth, she reached down and tugged up the left side of her skirt.

“Ruby, I-“ Even with their now increased distance, Ruby felt the newest heatwave radiate off of the ginger girl. She laughed again, this time more enthusiastically.

“Relax, Penny, I’m wearing shorts underneath. Besides, it’s just us. Here, look.” She directed the panicked girl’s eyes towards her upper thigh, where she could make out an angry blemish beneath the mesh tights. “Took a hit here after my aura broke. We were on the road and needed to keep moving, so there wasn’t really time for suturing or anything.” She paused, a melancholic smile on her face. “Besides, Jaune was really the only one of us who could sew. Anyway, I was bleeding, it was an issue so I… cauterized it.” Ruby absentmindedly drew her finger across the burn, the gentle ridges of the scarring evident even through the denier of her tights. “I’ve got a dozen marks with stories like that. So you probably don’t want Nurse Rose.” She silently nestled back up against Penny, wrapping her cloak around the two of them.

“But I am not human, Ruby.” Penny looked down at the young huntress, tracing the red highlights spread through her hair. “You built Crescent Rose, right?”

Ruby’s eyes shifted towards where her weapon lay discarded on the roof. “Yeah, but Crescent Rose is so much less advanced than you, and… Crescent Rose isn’t alive. Atlas might see you as a weapon, Penny, but I don’t. I don’t want to hurt you.” Emerald eyes met silver ones, both pleading in their own ways.

“I trust you, Ruby.” Penny said, enclosing the girl’s hands in her own. “I can bring up my schematics. Guide you through the whole process.” 

“Penny…” Ruby sighed, knowing her resistance was token at best. If Penny looked at her like that, Ruby was helpless. She could have asked Ruby to storm Salem’s lair, and all Ruby would have been able to say was ‘which direction’.

“Please, Ruby.” Penny moved until the two girls were facing each other. “Just enough to get back to the academy.” Ruby looked away before returning Penny’s gaze with characteristic resolve.

“Okay. But-“ The scythe user fixed her eyes on Penny with a resolute glare. “If I do anything wrong, you tell me. If I make you even a little uncomfortable, you tell me.” Penny started to open her mouth, but was quickly shushed by Ruby. “And don’t you dare tell me you wouldn’t do that, because we both know it’s how you got here. Okay?” Penny nodded meekly, unused to her friend being so commanding. “Good.” Ruby exhaled and pulled the android into a hug. “Penny?”

Penny softened into the hug. “Yes, Ruby?”

“I think that’s all the seriousness I can handle.” Penny felt the girl start trembling and worried Ruby had begun crying, relief overtaking her as it was made evident that it was actually laughter. Incredulous, Penny joined in as the danger of the situation boiled over, tension escaping the pair in the form of gentle giggles reverberating through the embrace.

“Ahhhhhhhh…” Ruby finally wheezed out, struggling to catch her breath. “It’s not fair that you don’t have to breathe.” She collapsed backwards, forgetting the pair were on a fractured roof. “Ow.”

Penny’s laughter immediately stopped and she leaned over the fallen Huntress. “Ruby! Are you okay?” Ruby started laughing again, wincing with each respiration.

“It’s okay, it’s just… psychosomatic!” Confusion filled Penny’s face before her own giggling resumed.

“Ruby, you do not know what that word means, do you?”

Ruby sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. “That obvious, huh?” Grunting, she sprung to her feet, a few stray rose petals flying off of her. Plucking one out of the air, Penny briefly examined it before holding it close to her chest. Stretching, Ruby looked down at her still-seated companion. “Not that I don’t love the scenery, but I don’t know if a dark rooftop is the best place for me to take a look at you.” She chewed her lip. “How mobile are you?”

Penny’s eyes flashed, green light emitting from them before a cheerful smile filled her face. “I am potentially as low as 13.7% combat readiness. However, that should not be an issue.” Ruby raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“Ruby,” the android inquired, mirth bubbling in her eyes. “What building are we on?”

The huntress hopped to the edge of the roof, peering down. “Well, we’re where I always stand watch, the Grand…“ her words trailed off as embarrassment dusted her cheeks. “Atlas… Hotel……” She sheepishly turned back towards Penny, bending over to pick up Crescent Rose. “Do… do you think they have any rooms open?” 

Penny climbed to her feet, dusting off her skirt. “Well, considering the current state of the Atlas tourism industry-“ she looked around pointedly at the military airships dotting the sky. “I think they might have one or two.”

-

“Here we are, room 374.” The door opened and Ruby and Penny were treated to an immaculate view, the fixtures of the hotel suite almost sparkling. Almost breathless, Ruby turned to the hotel employee who’d guided them there.

“Thank you so much for all of this, really. We’ll try to get out of here as quickly as we can.” Beside her, Penny hiccuped and bobbed her head rapidly. The attendant, a young pink-haired feline Faunus, hurriedly waved her hands in front of them.

“Oh, please, don’t worry about that, and don’t thank me! You protect us day after day, even tonight, it’s the least we can do. All of the staff know who you are, so please, let us know if there’s anything we can do.” She tugged at her breast where her name tag was visible. “If you need anything from me, I’m GiGi.” She hurried off down the hall, excitedly murmuring about ‘Huntresses’ and ‘the Protector of Mantle’. Moving inside the room, Ruby and Penny stared at each other before breaking into guilty smiles.

“Well, that went well!” Ruby finally spoke, sitting down at the edge of the large bed. The hotel employees had, of course, recognized Penny immediately, but had been under the impression that the earlier buffeting had been the result of a grimm attack the pair had protected them from, not the consequences of a poorly thought out landing strategy. While it took a lot of meaningful glances and no small amount of hiccups from Penny, the girls hadn’t felt the need to correct them.

They probably wouldn’t have minded anyway. Ruby thought to herself, shedding some of her outer layers. Based on how some of them reacted, I think they might start advertising this place as ‘The One-Time Sanctuary of the Protector of Mantle!’

“Ruby?” Penny spoke up softly, nervously looking at her companion. “I am ready when you are.” She’d also shed several of her layers, her current attire resembling a form-fitting black tank top. Deep inside Ruby’s brain, a wicked part wondered if that came off too.

Not now. Ruby scolded herself, shaking her head. She’s my friend and she needs my help. Standing up, she patted the bed. “Alright, up onto Dr. Ruby’s operating table.” Complying, Penny swept her long hair forward to give full access to her back, Ruby gulping as she realized the top dipped quite a bit lower than on the front, revealing a wide breadth of Penny’s milky skin.

“I was under the impression you were Nurse Rose?” Penny piped up as she lowered herself to the mattress.

Ruby moved back onto the bed, smoothing out the blankets around her prone friend. “Well, I also said you probably didn’t want Nurse Rose, so…”

“Awww…” Penny lamented, voice muffled by the cushions. “But you’d be so much cuter in a nurse outfit.” 

Ruby was incredibly grateful Penny couldn’t see the blush that spread across her face. “O-Okay.” She coughed out. “Where do I start?” A green glow that Ruby knew originated from Penny’s eyes bled through the sheets.

“The first thing we need to do is restore my diagnostic center, so-“

“Penny.” Ruby interjected. “Did you just say your diagnostic center?”

The android paused before she responded. “…Yes.”

“How long has that been out?” 

The pause was even longer this time. “…A few days. That is… why my father could not tell anything was wrong.” This time it was Ruby who paused.

“So, you’ve been fighting, KNOWING you wouldn’t be able to tell if anything went wrong?” When Penny next spoke, the voice that came through the bed was incredibly tender and soft.

“I just… I wanted to help.” 

“Penny…” Ruby leaned down, wrapping the other girl in a gentle embrace. “You help so much. You’re worth a dozen of us. But you know what?” She squeezed the other girl, feeling the gentle vibrations beneath her skin. “It doesn’t matter. You’re not just a tool. Not a weapon. You’re Penny Polendina. My friend. Even if you couldn’t do anything, you’d still be important.” Leaning back, she gently stroked Penny’s hair. “So the most important thing you can do is take care of yourself. And if you can’t do it for yourself, if you can’t do it for your father… at least do it for me, okay?”

Penny didn’t respond for a long time, the pair resting in silence with Ruby gently running her fingers through Penny’s ginger curls. The young Huntress had started out trying to comfort her friend, trying to do for Penny what Yang had done for Ruby in younger years, but she found herself more and more enamored with the comfortable feeling that stemmed from her proximity to the robotic girl. Finally Penny made a noise like she was clearing her throat, which Ruby thought was adorable for someone she was fairly certain didn’t have a respiratory tract.

“So, my diagnostic center…”

Ruby slowly and regretfully removed her hands from her friend’s head. “Right. What do I do?”

“First, you need to open up my system's BIOS circuit bus.” Penny’s voice slipped into a more stilted, routine tone that Ruby found strangely comforting. “There should be a small green button just above the small of my back, at the edge of my vesture.” Ruby didn’t know what a ‘vesture’ was, but found the small glowing switch nonetheless.

“Got it.”

“Gently press down on that button. Several lines should appear.” Following her instructions, Ruby’s eyes widened as illuminated paths etched underneath Penny’s skin. “These are my aura circuits. Find the line going down the back of my neck, and trace your finger down it starting from just below my hair.”

Ruby did as she was told, a small ring appearing between the android’s shoulder blades with a subtle hum. “Penny, there’s a circle now.”

“Push down on it.” Complying, Ruby felt her aura flare slightly and flinched as Penny made a quiet squeak.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was that too hard?” Penny shook her head, sheets rustling against her face.

“You are just fine, Ruby. I was… startled. I am… unused to a foreign aura blending with mine.” 

Ruby let out a thin breath, brain moving at breakneck speeds. “Blending… your circuits… they’re aura sensitive?” Penny let out a noise of affirmation.

“And activated.”

Crestfallen, Ruby’s voice fell. “And your aura rejected mine…”

“No!” The ginger girl frantically shook her head, concern bleeding into her voice. “It was far from bad, just… unexpected. My father and I have the same aura, you see, so while I thought I was prepared, I…” Her tone softened until she almost sounded embarrassed. “But it was… nice.”

Ruby relaxed slightly. “Are you sure?” Penny initially started to nod, but instead opted to turn her head to look at the dark-haired girl as best she could.

“Ruby, you might have startled me, but it’s your aura. I was feeling you . And feeling more of you could never be a problem.” Realizing what she had said, the redhead’s face glowed with embarrassment, but a hasty examination made it apparent that Ruby’s face mirrored her own.

“…Thanks.” Ruby squeaked out as Penny buried her face back in the hotel linens. “So, um, aura activated?”

Penny (in an action Ruby still found adorable) cleared her throat before shifting back to her previous, more controlled tone. “If you look back to where the circle was, a panel should now be visible in my dermal covering.” Examining the spot closely, Ruby realized that tiny seams had appeared where she could have sworn there was smooth skin before.

“Woah…” Gently tracing the thin lines, she softly gasped as the aperture opened with a soft hiss , revealing a small, luminous niche. Peering inside at the infinitesimally small, intricate systems, her breath caught. “This is… wow.” Hearing Penny begin to talk again, Ruby shook herself out of her fugue. “Slow down, Penny, this is… There’s a lot. I need…” She scrambled, searching for where she had left the small utility pouch that usually adorned her belt. Pulling out what might have been the world’s smallest toolkit, she returned to Penny’s side. “Sorry, this is usually just for field repairs on Crescent Rose, but it’s the best I’ve got.”

“I am sure you will do admirably, Ruby.”

Yeah, Ruby thought to herself, pulling a small metal probe out of the case. You might be sure, but I’m not. “Alright,” she said, steeling herself. “I’m ready. What’s next?”

Another flash of green emitted through the blankets. “Something is blocking the circuit. Can you see any visible damage, or perhaps a resistor that may be out of sequence?” Ruby leaned into the small compartment, not entirely sure what she was looking for.

“I don’t know, Penny, I-“ She halted, spotting a small red light amongst the complicated wiring. “There’s something red here, it looks like it’s… poking out?”

“That is most likely an aura surge breaker. Is there any scarring, or scorch marks around the fairing?” Ruby examined it as closely as she could, finding nothing obviously out of place.

“I don’t think so, it just seems to be sticking out. You said it was a breaker, do you want me to push it back in?”

“Yes, please.” 

Carefully pressing her tool against the small protrusion, Ruby heard a click precede a quiet but noticeable thrum. A faint tremble spread through Penny’s body, the thin circuits beneath her skin glowing marginally brighter. “Oh! Is that good?”

Penny’s voice was metered, but Ruby could have sworn she sounded more at ease. “Circuit restored. Beginning diagnostic scan now.” The panel hissed shut and Penny pushed herself up, circuits fading until they were barely visible underneath her skin. Turning to face her companion, the redhead’s pitch switched to a more cheerful intonation. “Thank you, Ruby.”

Ruby was taken aback. “Was… that all?” Penny shook her head.

“No, but I am currently running a subroutine identifying the most prescient issues. It will be complete momentarily, and I suspect I will still need your help.”

“Oh.” Ruby looked around awkwardly before smiling, abashed. “Remember when we first met? When I first called you my friend?”

A blissful smile wrapped around Penny’s face. “Of course, Ruby. I could never forget.”

“Well…” Ruby almost sang, dragging out the word. “I don’t know if now is the time to try on clothes or paint our nails, but if there’s any cute boys you wanted to talk about…” 

“Ruby!” Penny blushed indignantly. “My system is strained enough as it is without your teasing!” The scythe user giggled, playfully poking her friend in the cheek.

“Teasing? So there are some cute boys, then?”

Penny squirmed, trying and failing to glare at the grinning Huntress. “As happy as I may be that you also remembered our meeting, I have spent very little time thinking of… cute boys. ” If Ruby noticed her rather particular accentuation she didn’t show it, but her laughter died down nonetheless.

“I guess things have been a little busy for that, haven’t they.” Still grinning, Ruby pulled her friend close. “Penny Polendina, Protector of Mantle.” She started to shut her mouth, but then opened it again with a wicked smile. Realizing what was about to happen, Penny’s face burned red.

“Ruby-“

“And her callsign…”

Penny waved her arms in front of her face, embarrassed. “Ruby, no-“

“Her official Atlessian reporting name…”

“Please!” The heat wave radiating off of Penny was almost visible now.

“Is… Angel!”

Penny squealed, collapsing backwards onto the bed in a fit of laughter, Ruby falling to her side shortly after. The two sprawled there jovially for no small amount of time, continuing even after the completion of diagnostics was marked by a fading glow from Penny’s eyes. Finally sitting back up, Ruby wiped a joyful tear from her eye. “I missed you, Penny, so much. So much.” Remaining on the mattress, Penny curled around her friend.

“I missed you too, Ruby.”

Sighing, Ruby’s face fell slightly. “We… probably should get back to it. Just because things are quiet now doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way.” Penny nodded, reluctantly detaching herself from the red-clad Huntress and rolling onto her stomach. Perking up, Ruby grabbed a pillow from the front of the bed and slid it underneath the android’s head. “Here! Might as well use them, right?”

“Ruby,” Penny said, amusement trickling into her voice. “You know I am a robot, right?”

Ruby brandished her finger at the other girl. “A soft robot. And one who’s going to use this pillow because it’s probably super comfy because we’re in this really fancy hotel and her awesome friend Ruby told her to.” She glanced to the side abashedly. “Also it would make me happy. So, there.”

Penny smiled warmly, bringing her arms up to support her head underneath the pillow. If it weren’t for the digital glow emitting from her eyes, she could have been a normal girl laying down for a rest. “Well, I do have some good news.”

“Oh?”

“It appears that after the repairs to my diagnostic bus I am in complete control of all maintenance panels and hatches.” As if to demonstrate her entire body seemed to ripple, seams and articulation appearing where only smooth skin and freckles had been moments before. Ruby’s eyes widened, enthralled by the display. As the spectacle settled, a solitary compartment opened below Penny’s left shoulder, revealing a small sphere.

“This is the central gyro for my dust magnetos. It-“

Ruby let out a low whistle. “High frequency dust currents… You’re creating an aurasphere! I’ve never seen a core unit this small before… This is how you control your blades?” An almost wistful smile came over Penny’s face.

“No more wires.” A small breath of realization came out of the Huntress, but Penny continued before sadness could overtake her friend. ”The gyro has been catching every fifth revolution, most likely due to a misaligned field coil.”

Ruby craned her head inside, spotting a thin ring that seemed to be out of place. “I think I see it. What next?”

“There should be a groove on the rim of the casing with three yellow dots in it. The coil also has three dots. Align the dots and reseat the ring.” Clipping the coil back in, Ruby was greeted by a positive whirring noise and the feeling of Penny’s aura washing over her.

“Woah, this is-“ Ruby couldn’t find any words.

“Calibration complete, field optimal.” The aperture on the girl’s shoulder sealed itself and the comfortable buzz of Penny’s aura faded away. Almost immediately Ruby found she missed the feeling. “Next is my communication cluster. This is-“ A faint dusting of pink appeared on the girl’s freckled cheeks. “The console is located just behind my left ear, you may need to be closer.”

“That’s fine!” Ruby responded cheerfully, scooting closer to Penny’s head. “And you said it’s- wow.” She spotted the small panel inset in her friend’s head. “Penny, you’re… sorry, I got distracted. What am I looking for?”

“There will be a series of small chips inserted into a control matrix. One of them has been damaged.” Silver eyes traced over microscopic circuitry and gently pulsating lights. “You will need to remove the damaged chip and replace it with an intact one from the end of the stack.” Ruby slid the probe she had been using into her mouth and reached for a tiny set of tweezers. 

“So your communication array must work in series, then?” Carefully drawing the wafer-like chips out just enough to check for damage, Ruby was astonished at the meticulous detail and craft on display.

Like the girl herself, the work could only be described as beautiful.

“And you said you wouldn’t be able to help me.”

“Wha-?” Ruby paused, hands freezing in midair.

A contented smile was on Penny’s face. “You said you didn’t know if you could help me. But here you are, figuring out my systems before I can even explain them.” She giggled, her laughter ringing like chimes. “I’m surprised Crescent Rose isn’t flying around on its own.” Ruby briefly looked away bashfully before returning her concentration to Penny’s head.

“Well, I’ve read a lot, but we didn’t really have money for anything too fancy. Besides,” she said, returning herself to the present. “My uncle Qrow always taught me ‘don’t trust your life to anything you can’t fix while outrunning a beowulf’. And then he’d kiss my head.” She chuckled. “It wasn’t until I was much older that my dad told me that ‘KISS’ meant something. ‘Keep it simple, stupid’.” Her eyes softened. “Apparently my mom used to tell him that all the time.” She pulled out a chip blackened and cracked by damage. “Ah, here we go. My point is that there might be parts of you that I recognize, but I… I could never do any of this.”

“Ruby,” Penny gently chided. “You’re ‘doing it’ right now. Outside of my father, I don’t know who else I would trust-.” Feeling her substitute mechanic click an undamaged chip into the missing slot, her voice halted as her eyes flashed green. “Communication aerial restored at 0.07% packet loss rate, 87.4% optimal range.” The cover slid shut, leaving no mark it had ever been there.

“That’s so cool…” Ruby whispered, drawing her finger over the invisible seams. Noticing a growing blush on Penny’s face, she pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry, was that sensitive?”

Penny shook her head, ginger hair splaying out. “Oh no, Ruby, you are fine, it is…” She pushed herself up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. “Repairs to my propulsion system will require me to… undress further. Would that make you uncomfortable?”

“Penny,” Ruby smiled lightly. “I used to share a dorm room with three girls. We have shared locker rooms here in Atlas. If I can handle Neon’s violent aversion to shirts, I think I can handle being in a private room with you.” Penny sat up, staring at Ruby.

“…Violent aversion to shirts?”

The scythe user snickered. “I’d say Neon’s top comes off the moment we get off the training floor, but she doesn’t even manage that sometimes.” Seeing Penny still staring at her in confusion, she elaborated. “She likes to flash Flynt.”

“Oh!” Penny’s eyebrows shot up. “I was not aware they were an item.”

Ruby waved her hand lackadaisically. “They aren’t, Neon’s just kinda… like that? She’s not one for like… personal boundaries. She likes sneaking up behind me in the shower and grabbing my chest while yelling ‘size check!’ It’s almost a tradition.”

“Oh, my.”

“Once, she slapped Weiss on the butt after a match.”

Penny’s green eyes widened. “Weiss?”

“Oh yeah. I did say once. ” Ruby grinned. “Turns out the ice queen hasn’t fully thawed. Can’t say I blame her, though. Weiss has really nice legs. I’m jealous. But yeah, not an item.” Adopting a faux-hushed tone, she leaned close to Penny. “Besides, I’m fairly certain Flynt is gay.”

Penny’s mouth widened. “That would explain that time with- wait, that is not the point!” Her voice lowered. “It is not about the… social boundaries, it is about the fact that I am-“

“-my friend.” Ruby interrupted. “And this will be no different from seeing Weiss or Blake.”

“But-“

“No buts.” Ruby interjected again. “Unless you need to show me yours for some reason, in which case I’m sure it’s very nice.” She placed a hand on Penny’s cheek. “Remember what you said earlier, about my aura just being more of me? Well, Penny, this is just more of you. And more of you can only be good.”

Penny nodded meaningfully, seemingly incapable of forming words. After appearing to brace herself, she slid her legs straight out in front of her. “Well, bottoms up, as they say!”

“I don’t think that’s exactly what that… phrase…… means………” Ruby responded, her voice trailing off as she took in what was happening. Penny’s legs were unfolding, steam hissing out as sockets released with pneumatic thrums. Couplings released from hidden hinges and the heels of her thrusters folded as Penny stepped out of what was apparently an incredibly cutting-edge pair of boots, feet flexing as they extended into the air. “Wow… Penny, that’s amazing! I thought that those were part of you, but… wow!”

Penny blushed. “In a way, they are. But my father did not wish for me to be purely a weapon. He hoped that some day I could live as a normal girl, so when I was rebuilt almost all of my combat functions were made… modular.” She stared at the tips of her feet. “I do sometimes wish I had toes, though.” An excited look grew on her face and her voice perked up. “Oh! Before the Amity project my father was constructing a full exosuit for me. I think you would find it quite impressive.” Ruby gasped.

“Like Tony Stalk in Aura Man!”

A sheepish smile slid onto Penny’s face. “My father… may be a fan.” 

Ruby’s gaze shifted over Penny’s newly revealed legs, hand subconsciously inching towards them. “Can I…feel them?”

Penny blushed. “Of course, Ruby.” Sliding her fingers across what appeared to be stockings, she was surprised to discover that what she expected to feel like thin fabric actually had a texture similar to that of tiny metal strands. Finding a small embossed fitting near Penny’s calf, she ran her finger around the rim.

“Is this one of the places where you connect to the thrusters?”

The ginger girl nodded, closing her eyes and causing a soft green light to overlay the small fixture. “One of four aura conduits, supported by thirty-two flushed fittings constructed out of a high-tensile alloy. The boots also include fourteen dust-enhanced artificial muscle strands that meld with my existing joint cluster to effectively triple my lifting capacity.” Realizing she’d been rambling, Penny blushed. “Also, they let me fly.”

Tracing her finger over the bionic girl’s knee, Ruby let out an amazed breath. “That is so cool…” She glanced towards Penny. “Can I ask something insensitive? I mean, I assume it’s insensitive, I obviously don’t know many girls like you, or really ANY girls like you, because you’re kinda one-of-a-“

“It is okay, Ruby.” Penny cut her off, giggling. “You may ask.”

“So… these are like, armor, almost?” Ruby scrunched up her face, struggling to find the right words. “They aren’t like, different legs. Can you… you know… like, swap out parts?”

Penny’s face brightened. “That is a good question, Ruby! To tell you the truth, we don’t know!” Her eyes glowed, unreadably tiny lines of text falling down her retinas. “All of my father’s research indicated that my aura would be tied to my core and whatever mechanics may be attached, but practice has proven this to not necessarily be the case. I have undergone significant internal repairs with little issue, but attempts to reattach severed limbs or, in fact, replace them have gone… poorly.” She winced. “Even my blades are part of my network and part of my body, and cannot be so easily separated. It is, we suspect, psychosomatic.” Giving Ruby a knowing look, she smiled. “No rocket fists.”

Ruby gave her an over-exaggerated pout. “That’s still amazing, though.” A ponderous expression overtook her. “And really shows how little we know about aura… and ourselves. She’s pretty good with it now, but Yang mentioned having a lot of issues with her arm at first. Maybe it’s connected?” She whistled. “Pietro is a genius, either way.”

“Speaking of Yang,” Penny voiced, recalling something from earlier. “You said seeing me would be like seeing Blake or Weiss. Not Yang?”

Ruby made a face. “No, definitely not Yang. It’s not that Yang isn’t pretty, I mean like, look at her, it’s just… sister standards.” She elaborated, seeing Penny’s confusion. “I do reserve the right to be jealous of your legs, though.”

“Well,” Penny responded, a wry smile on her face. “They are state of the art.” Her next words were muffled by her reaching down and lifting her thin top over her head, but the dark-haired girl could have sworn she said something about her liking Ruby’s legs. Casting the garment aside, Penny stared at her friend with a shy look on her face. Now faced with a ginger android in what could only be described as charcoal  undergarments, all Ruby could really think was so those layers DO come off and oh, she has freckles on her tummy! That’s cute. They weren’t the most astute thoughts, but she’d had a long night.

And the freckles really were quite cute.

“So,” Penny finally continued. “The good news is that outside of material damage that is beyond our means to fix here, my propulsion systems are relatively unharmed. The loss of flight capability was the result of a failure in my aura regulation system triggering a failsafe response to protect the integrity of my systems.”

Ruby looked uneasy. “But… your flight systems cutting off seems really dangerous. Why wouldn’t Pietro have given you a bypass?” 

Penny looked away. “Remember the first thing I had you work on? The BIOS circuit bus?” Nodding slowly, Ruby cast a flat stare towards Penny’s face. “So, there is an interesting fact about where all my failsafes rout through…”

“Penny…” Ruby grabbed her friend’s cheeks, finding them remarkably malleable considering the mechanical nature of the girl. “STOP! NEGLECTING! YOUR OWN! HEALTH!”

“Ahm sowry, ahm sowry!” Penny protested, words morphed by the young girl’s ministrations. Outcries evolved into laughter as she fell backwards into the bed, Ruby being pulled down on top of her. Releasing the girl’s freckled cheeks, Ruby sat back until she almost straddled Penny, gazing down with a look of concern.

“I’m serious, you know. I worry about you.”

Penny sobered up, seeing the sadness that filled the young Huntress’s eyes. “That was never my intention.”

“I know.” Ruby chided, gently. “But until you can recognize yourself as someone worth being cared about, I’m always going to worry that you’ll see yourself as a sacrifice. An acceptable loss.” She fell forward, catching herself and pinning Penny’s arms to the mattress. “Losing you will never. Ever . Be acceptable.” Sitting back up straight, she wiped her tears from her eyes. “We just keep getting emotional, don’t we?” Penny smiled, reaching up to clean a stray tear that had fallen onto Ruby’s cheek.

“There is no one I would rather be emotional with.” 

Ruby gave her a watery smirk. “I think Dr. Rose is even less qualified in psychology than she is in medicine.”

Penny grinned, lowering her hands to her abdomen. “And yet you keep impressing.” Drawing her fingers apart, a spiral aperture opened in her stomach, revealing a pulsating green light. “This, Ruby, is my aura regulation vortex. It is the closest thing I possess to a heart.” Pushing herself further down the android’s legs, Ruby peered inside with rapt attention.

“Your heart… wouldn’t that be your core?”

“Is your heart not what pumps blood throughout your body? I do also possess a hydraulic governance system, but my core would be more akin to my brain, would it not?”

Ruby was too absorbed in the inner workings of the girl to even laugh. “I was thinking a little less… literally…” Her eyes followed what looked like a tiny hose enclosed within a small, flickering helix. Helix, helix… If this is the aura regulator, that helix probably is a collection structure, but why would it be- wait, if that hose is a dust line, the aura collector would passively convert any surplus aura to powered dust, minimizing waste and- “Wow… this is just…” Her voice lowered to just above a whisper. “You’re beautiful, Penny.”

“Ruby?” Penny actually squeaked. “Did… did you just call me beautiful? ”

The crimson-tipped girl nodded absentmindedly. “Mhm! Meant it, too.” Taking on an ashamedly enthusiastic expression, she peered up at Penny, oblivious to her bionic friend’s discombobulation. “Ooh! I promise not to do anything without permission, but… can I try to figure out the issue on my own first? Weiss has let me work on Myrtenaster a few times, and that had the most advanced auric dust buffer system I’d seen until yours, and considering both are Atlas tech in their own ways I figure that maybe some of the systems are similar so if I think of your aura regulation system as functioning a little bit like the way Weiss forms glyphs crossed with Yang’s semblance I might be able to figure out where it’s caching and work from there, even though-“

“ Ruby. ” Penny silenced the enthusiastic weaponsmith, a blush resting alongside a wistful smile. “That would be fine. I trust you.” Ruby immediately went to work, poring over the indescribably precise facets on display.

“Penny, do you have an inline rotary processor using a dust-air mixture?”

The girl’s eyes flashed green. “Yes. If you open a cowling located in the upper left side of my assembly, three of the cylinders should be visible.” If Ruby hadn’t been busy, she could have punched her fist in the air.

“Upper left?”

“My left.”

“Ah.” Sliding a thin polymer sheet out of the way, the makeshift mechanic stared at the newly-revealed section. “Is that a radial configuration with double-count cooling fins?”

“That is correct.”

Ruby scratched her chin. “Looks like one of your pistons is out of alignment, probably firing out of order, but that shouldn’t cause a regulatory error. Mind if I reset it anyway? I see that there’s a switch just below it here, is that the manual cut-off?”

“Correct again, Ruby. My diagnostic failed to pick that up, I am impressed!” Blushing slightly, Ruby depressed the switch and slid the piston fully back into its cylinder, rotating the crank until she could reseat the next piston.

“Well, I see what I think is a variable intake dust plug, so most likely there was a subsystem automatically compensating for any irregularities in the firing order. Safe and simple, Pietro probably just had to make sure he checked this himself every time he took a look at you.” Finishing her work on the flywheel- wait, no reciprocation, that makes it a crankcase- she slid the cover back over it and continued her search.

Penny giggled. “Strange expertise to have for weapon construction, Ruby. Have you been holding out on me?”

“Yang would have me tune Bumblebee.” Ruby grunted, contorting her neck at an uncomfortable angle. “Not that you’re anything like a motorcycle, but… well, if Bumblebee had been anywhere near as marvelous as you maybe she wouldn’t have dumped it off a cliff.” Spotting a minuscule irregularity at the edge of her vision, she took a painstaking look. “I’ve got something. Thought it was a tripped breaker, but… are these capacitors?”

Penny nodded, then realized Ruby was too immersed in her mechanics to see. “If you are looking at what I believe you are, yes.”

“Then…” She looked up, eyes wide in amazement. “Did you blow a whole capacitor?”

Penny looked defensive. “The capacitors are quite small. It’s more common than you might expect…”

“I’m just impressed!” Ruby whistled, admiration on her face. “Like, I don’t know if I could fry one of these if I wanted to. Like, yeah, my aura manipulation isn’t great, I’m not Ren, but still! You’re amazing, you know that?” The scythe user was hit by a blast of warm air as Penny blushed. Realizing how she might sound, Ruby went into a minor panic. “I’m not just saying that because I’m a… bit of a weapon nut, or because I respect Pietro! Like, yeah, your construction is practically art and I have no idea how your father even came up with a lot of this, let alone built it, but it has nothing on your spirit or how you always help people or how you use your abilities, like, you practically dance with your swords and that’s while fighting-“ the enthusiastic girl paused for a breath, not realizing her friend was growing increasingly flustered. “And then even outside of combat you’re beautiful, not like, your parts, but you’re really pretty, and I don’t just mean your appearance even though I would be lying if I said you weren’t really cute and I really liked playing with your hair which was super soft by the way, but the way you carry yourself and always do your best and have so much enthusiasm is really attractive and-“

“Ruby!” The redhead yelped.

Finally looking up, Ruby realized Penny’s face was glowing. “The platitudes are not necessary, Ruby!”

Her friend looked up at her, grinning, previous anxiety forgotten. “Are they really still platitudes if they’re true?”

“Yes!” Penny hooted indignantly.

“Spoilsport.”

“Cajoler!”

Ruby snorted. “Penny, I think we both know I don’t know what that means.”

“Flatterer! Charmer! Sweet talker!”

“Ooh, is that so? I should keep it up, then.”

Penny covered her face with her hands. “Ruby!”

“Fine, fine…” Ruby relented, taking a comically long breath. “Speaking of not knowing things, you’re gonna need to walk me through this. I see the capacitor, but I don’t know how to bypass it.” Taking another glance, she second-guessed herself. “Which… isn’t what we need to do, is it?”

Face still flushed, Penny removed her hands from her eyes. “As usual, you are correct. The capacitors are set up in a parallel circuit so damage to one would not distrupt normal operations.”

“-Which means something else went wrong?”

“Which means something else went wrong.”

Scrutinizing the system, Ruby desperately tried to remember everything she’d ever read about dust circuitry. It was possible whatever had blown the capacitor had caused accessory damage, but there wasn’t any obvious fragmentation or marring surrounding the shot capacitor, and even the unit in question didn’t seem fully destroyed, just… warped.

Warped .

What were the odds that, with how long Penny had been fighting without routine maintenance and how frequent capacitor failures apparently were, only one failed, it did so catastrophically enough to damage the immaculately constructed circuit with no obvious fallout, and it didn’t do so until moments before the android made contact with Ruby?

Capacitors. Parallel array of aura-polymer cells. Penny’s diagnostic center had been offline. Following a hypothesis, Ruby gingerly removed the twisted capacitor and examined the underside. As she’d suspected, the pin-outs were bent, most likely jostled but not broken during combat.

The jingling of Penny’s voice shook Ruby out of her trance. “You figured it out, didn’t you?” Ruby nodded, almost in disbelief.

“The capacitor didn’t discharge at all. The pins were damaged but not destroyed, causing a false signal not just for that cell but, because the bank was in sequence, the entire bank.” She eyed a small hydraulic plate under the missing capacitor. “Normally the discrepancy in the intercalation rate probably would have been detected, and the miscalibrated cell ejected, but your diagnostic systems were offline. So all of the incoming charge went into this single cell, overcharging and eventually inflating it, while also reading as if the bank was full. The remaining capacitors slowly discharged until they were completely empty, with your current monitor never realizing they weren’t full.” She glanced up at Penny, silver orbs full of awe. “The issue was never with the regulator at all!”

Penny returned her gaze, her expression full of pride. “Just as diagnosed. You need to give yourself more credit, Ruby.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say.” The Huntress’s words were distracted, her mind entranced. “How would we fix this, then?” 

“You practically already have.” Penny responded, smiling sweetly. “Now that the faulty pin-outs are gone, a light aura pulse will force the bank to recalibrate and charge evenly.”

“So, can I…?”

“I would be honored if you did, Ruby.” Delicately placing her index finger in the missing slot, Ruby sent a small burst of aura into the circuit, the feeling of her friend’s aura sending shivers through Penny. Watching as Ruby extracted her finger, the android concentrated and closed the aperture in her stomach.

“Wow…” Ruby’s eyes followed every motion as the panel sealed shut, no matter how trivial.

Penny’s eyes fell. “I am… sorry, that you had to see me like this.”

“Hm?” The dark-haired reaper’s voice was hushed and breathless, still enthralled by the artistry of Penny’s construction. “Why would you say that?”

Penny’s tone was sorrowful, shaking Ruby out of her fugue and making her wonder if the redhead could cry. “You… always are so caring and careful to call me a real girl. You make sure to make me feel reassured. But seeing what I really am like inside, now, it must…”

“Penny.” Ruby’s voice was stern yet wavering as the emotions surged from within the young Huntress. “Penny, this is… this is all amazing. You are amazing.”

Penny’s voice shook. “But it must make it harder to see me as-“

“Penny. Yang has a robotic arm, does that make her any less human?”

“No, but-“

“How about Ironwood? He probably can’t live without his prosthetics, does that make him any less human?”

“Of course not, but-“

“How about Pie- your father? If it’s somehow about aura, has he become ‘less’ human after creating you?” Penny began to open her mouth, but Ruby didn’t let her get a word in. “And before you say that the point is that you were ‘created’, so were all of us! My parents ‘created’ me!” She blushed. “Sure, the… process was probably a little different, but you were born, same as any of us.”

“But-“

“But nothing, Penny. Do you remember what I said when you first told me about yourself back in that alleyway?” 

Penny sat up, burying her head in Ruby’s chest.

“Just… just because I have nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts doesn’t make me any less real.”

Ruby wrapped her arms around the troubled girl, once again stroking her hair. “And none of that has changed. It’s what’s on the inside that matters, Penny. And I don’t just mean nuts or guts. I mean what’s really on the inside.” Separating the two of them briefly, Ruby looked into Penny’s eyes as tightly as she could. “You’re amazing, Penny. Head to toe. Freckles to fuses. I li- I love the parts of you that can fight or fly just as much as I love the parts that can fret or feel.” Ruby pressed on, ignoring the tears clinging to her lashes. “When I look at you I’m not just amazed because of Pietro’s work, extraordinary as it may be, but because it’s you. Because you trusted me enough to tell me this, to show me this.” She cupped Penny’s face, thumbs tracing unseen lines between the ginger girl’s freckles. “When I call you beautiful, Penny, I mean all of you. Every single part.”

For what felt like an eternity the girls stared into each other’s eyes. 

Ruby’s heart pounded in her ears. Her respirations, which should have been slowing down after her breathy tirade, picked up. Penny’s gaze was unflinching, but whatever thoughts and emotions lay behind the subtle articulations of her retinas were beyond Ruby’s comprehension. Eyes that could analyze an entire battle in fractions of a second traced over every pore of the young Huntress’s face, searching for the answer to a question Ruby didn’t know she was asked.

Ruby wasn’t a slow person. There was a reason her semblance had been long misidentified as simply ‘speed’, the minutiae of its capabilities being set aside in favor of going from a start point to an end point in the shortest possible amount of time. Despite being barely out of adolescence, the scythe user had been in more life-or-death situations than she could count, environments where a moment’s hesitation could leave you, as her Uncle Qrow would say, ‘with more than a few unintended piercings.’ She was Ruby Rose, Signal Academy’s reigning- and undefeated- dodgeball champion.

So when Penny’s eyes sharpened, her formerly cryptic expression replaced by one of undeniable conviction and more than a little desperation, it wasn't that Ruby couldn't react before Penny closed the distance between the pair and joined their lips in a hurried but tender union-

-She just chose not to.

The kiss was over as soon as it began, Penny hurriedly drawing back and raising her fingers to her lips in a dazed stupor as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just done. Ruby, for her part, was just dumbstruck. Seeing as Penny still seemed to be caught in a reverie, fingers drawing gently over the lips that Ruby now personally knew to be unbelievably soft, the fledgling Huntress decided to reassess and get her bearings.

Alright. ACT. Just like I’ve done a thousand times before. Analyze, calculate, try. I wonder how Uncle Qrow would feel if he knew I was using his training like this? She internally sniggered. Who am I kidding, he’d be proud. Ah! Wait! No! No time for distractions! Girl! Cute! Friend! Kiss! Lips! Soft! Did that come out of nowhere, or… Ruby thought back over all her interactions with Penny, as far back as Beacon to the memorable events of the day. No, I might just be an idiot. Oh no, I hope Penny doesn’t think I don’t like her. Wait, do I like her? I mean, obviously I like her but like, like? LIKE like? *LIKE* LIKE like? I’m saying ‘like’ too much. Thinking. Whatever. Is ‘like’ even a real word? Like, what does ‘like’ even- bwuh. Now my head hurts. Removing one of her hands from Penny’s cheeks, she caressed her fingers against her own lips. Woah. Buzzy. I wonder if…

“Hey Penny?” If a robot’s eyes could be dilated, Penny’s would have been. “I’m gonna test something, okay?” Leaning back in, this time it was Ruby who initiated the kiss, the initially delicate brush turning into a deeper union as the two inexperienced girls melted into each other. What started as an experiment for Ruby rapidly matured into something else as she memorized the taste and feel of Penny’s lips as if trying to satiate a hunger she didn’t realize she had. Some distant and unimportant part of her mind noted that she hadn’t breathed in a while, but it was quickly overwritten as a noise somewhere between a squeak and a moan rose from deep within Penny’s throat, with Ruby gleefully resolving to create more of the adorable mewls. So enthralled was the girl with her newfound desire that she didn't realize she'd forgotten a rather simple but very necessary bodily function.

Penny broke the two apart, eyes wide. “Ruby! Breathe!”

“Wuh…?” Ruby said dazedly, head swaying faintly.

“Breathe!” Penny reiterated, squishing Ruby’s lips and tilting the girl’s head upwards. “The saturation of air in your bloodstream reached dangerously low levels! You need respirations!”

The red-clad girl had a look on her face as if she had just been struck in the head. “Woah, you can tell that? That’s so awesome… S’not fair you don’t need to breathe… can kiss forever…”

“But you do!” Penny insisted, cheeks slightly rosy after Ruby’s lightheaded compliment. “You are currently displaying several visible symptoms of minor hypoxia!”

“Hey, hey,” Ruby giggled, resting her forehead against the android’s. “Can you do that thing where you say stuff like that as a percentage? It’s super adorable…”

Penny glared at Ruby. “Do you have a headache?”

“A liiiiiittle one, maybe?”

“All of them! Every single one! 100% of the symptoms!” Penny exclaimed, much to the woozy girl’s delight. “Ruby, I am very concerned about you! Could you please take this seriously?”

Ruby made a sputtering noise with her mouth. “S’cute when you worry. Too much seriousness tonight, feelings, Grimm…” Her eyes shot wide, a massive gasp drawing in air as adrenaline poured into her system. “Grimm! Penny, I was on watch! I wasn’t thinking, I-“ Penny grabbed her shoulders, looking straight into the panicked Huntress’s eyes.

“Ruby, it is okay. After you restored my communications array, I-" Penny’s blush grew as embarrassment crept into her voice. “I… took the liberty of communicating with your team. They are aware aware of the situation and-“

“You told them?” Ruby interrupted, still struggling to catch her breath. “But I didn’t hear-“ her voice flattened as realization dawned on her face. “Oh. Right. Robot. Still, I should-“

Seeing the other girl reach for her earpiece, panicked embarrassment overtook the android. “Ruby, maybe you shouldn’t-“

The Huntress’s earpiece crackled to life with the stern and shrill tone of her white-haired partner. “-uby? Ruby! I swear, if you even think about leaving that room out of some misguided sense of duty, I-“

“Weiss, is that you? What’s up?”

The heiresses' voice was exasperated. “ What’s up is that we have everything under control out here, and that’s not likely to change, so take this earpiece out and kiss that cute girl in front of you!” Ruby’s face shot to the same color as her cloak. 

“You knew?”

Weiss’s voice was smug. “You just confirmed it.”

“When? I mean, how long? I mean, how!?”

“Ruby, I’m fairly certain you were the only one who didn’t see this coming.” Her partner’s voice softened. “Look, you dolt, you deserve this. You both do. After everything that’s happened, we could all use a win, and you two…” she exhaled, affection evident in her voice even as her tone became more stern. “So if I see even one hint of those red tips outside of that hotel room before the sun rises…” She left the threat hanging, intentions clear.

Sheepishly taking her earpiece out, Ruby stared at the equally flushed girl in front of her. “So, they…”

“As soon as they realized your comm was out, Yang started yelling at me to confess and Weiss… well, you heard.”

Ruby sighed. “So I spilled the beans.”

“Um,” Penny squeaked, drawing her hands close to her chest. “About that, what um… you kissed me, so…”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Should I not have? I’m sorry, you kissed me first so…”

“No no no, I liked it, I liked it a lot!” Penny reassured, waving her hands in front of her. “But… what does that make us?” Ruby’s face was puzzled.

“We kissed, and you said Yang was telling you to confess so… I assumed… aren’t we like… girlfriends, now? That seems like something girlfriends do so…” She looked down, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I’m not good at… people stuff.”

Penny’s face broke into a relieved smile. “I… think I would be very happy if we could be girlfriends, Ruby Rose.” Seeing the infatuated look in the ginger girl’s eyes, Ruby leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips before breaking out giggling.

“We really are a pair of idiots in our own way, huh?”

Salem herself couldn’t have removed the smile from Penny’s face. “I believe Weiss would call us ‘dolts’.”

“That sounds right.” Grinning at her friend, Ruby launched herself at Penny with a burst of her semblance, catching the girl by surprise and pushing her down to the bed. “You know, Penny Polendina, I think I would also be very happy if you would be my girlfriend.” Tilting her head to the side in mock indecision, she leaned closer to Penny. “However… Weiss said we had all night, and I’m not quite tired yet, so I think we should make sure.”

In defiance of everything she thought was possible with her mechanical anatomy, Penny felt breathless.

“I think I would like that. A lot.”