Ruby Rose | Team RWBY (eyesofsilver) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-07-23 19:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elsa of arendelle, ruby rose |
Who: Elsa and Ruby
What: Lunch and catching up
When: Recently
Where: Random food type place
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
It had been quite a long time since Elsa had met Ruby for lunch, but in light of making the effort with her sister she’d decided to make an effort with other people in her life.
And her therapist had helped her realize she did need friends in her life.
So here she was, waiting for Ruby while she checked her phone, though she was too lost in thought to really see it.
When Elsa had reached out, Ruby had been excited. True, she could have reached out as well - she wasn’t always good about that, it was true, but even so. She was happy to hear from her friend. After everything that had happened at the start of the year… of the feelings of guilt for not noticing sooner…. Well, it was good to see Elsa reaching out.
So with lunch planned, Ruby had just needed to get through the morning before she headed to where they had agreed on. Nearly tripping into someone on her way to Elsa once she saw her.
“Sorry!”
Crisis averted (thank goodness she was getting better at avoiding actually running into people - usually) and the young woman went to the table.
“Sorry if I’m late, am I late?” She wasn’t really sure actually. “Um, hi!”
“It’s all right, I wasn’t really waiting that long.” Elsa slipped her phone into her purse and grinned up at Ruby. “Go ahead and sit! I haven’t actually eaten here before so I think it’ll be a bit of an adventure for the both of us.”
Sometimes it was hard to tell if someone actually meant it when they said they hadn’t been waiting for long, or if they were just being polite. But Ruby wasn’t really the type to worry too much about it since it could be awkward to end up being called on it.
Taking a seat on the other side of the table, she nodded some.
“Oh, that’s definitely exciting then.” Because it was Ruby, so an adventure (even in terms of just having something to eat) was a definite bonus to meeting up with a friend.
There were certainly other adventures they could get up to, but after what had happened with Weiss’s father, and then dragons and a number of other things, Elsa was completely okay with not having any other adventures, at least not without a week’s warning.
“Their ice cream gets great reviews but we should probably behave and get real food first.”
There were the planned adventures and the not planned adventures, and as a rule? Ruby preferred the planned ones. If something came up as it so often did in Orange County? Obviously she would do everything in her power to help. But planned adventures were definitely preferable.
“I mean I guess.” Because who wanted to have real food when there was ice cream? Not that she wouldn’t get real food first. But really now. Ice cream.
They had something called a buffalo burger, and also a chocolate fudge ice cream cake with chocolate syrup, chocolate ice cream and chocolate covered cherries. Elsa spent a full minute staring at that before declaring. “Well I know what I’m having for dessert!”
The grilled mac and cheese seemed interesting to Ruby for the whole…real food thing. Because it was like a grilled cheese with tomato soup but with mac and cheese instead. As for dessert? S’more brownie. Because brownies. And s’mores. “So do I.” Because really, was there any other possible option? Hardly.
Whoever had come up with these desserts was a genius and Elsa kind of regretted her decision for real food, even if it was probably the right one.
But orders in, and then, eventually chocolate indulgence and s’mores brownies.
They were adults, really?
“So what have you been up to lately?”
Sometimes the right choice to make was also the difficult one. Like getting real food and not just jumping straight to the desserts. Because the desserts were way too tempting and Ruby wanted them now but she could at least look forward to the s’more brownie? Sure. That was it.
“Not too much. Training things, work things, ice skating, tinkering. The usual.” All things considered, nothing had really been going on. There were the Dreams. But she was...well, worried about her uncle but there was no need to drag anyone else into that. She just had to figure out how to help him. “How about you?”
Adulting was hard.
“I wonder how much money I’d make making some kind of ice skating rink or something else with ice,” Elsa mused aloud. “I wouldn’t have to pay for air conditioning or to keep everything cool.”
She took a sip from her water before answering. “I’m… doing better. I’ve been trying to reconnect with my sister, which is happening in fits and starts, but it’s happening. I like to think I’m closer to where I was before everything happened.”
That was the question. Because it wasn’t like Ruby knew how much rinks made in the area - usually when she went, there weren’t too many people. But that was mostly because she’d go during her lunch break during the week when there were less people involved. But there were always going to be people interested as well. That was the fun of it.
“That’s definitely an added bonus.”
As Elsa answered the question, Ruby just listened.
“That’s the important thing. Even though it’s work, you’re getting there and even if its stop and go with your sister, it’s important to do so all the same.”
So said Ruby apparently.
“I don’t want to give up, not like I did before,” Elsa agreed. Even if it wasn’t really giving up per se, so much as separating herself to protect Anna. It wasn’t the best excuse in the universe but it was true.
“But I’m afraid she’ll hate me, especially after she dreams.”
Ruby wasn’t sure what to say to that. After all, she could only say so much, it wasn’t like she actually knew Anna or anything.
“Just because you’re afraid of something being the case doesn’t mean it actually will be or that it’s even likely and that the fear is more just you being scared or thinking how you feel she should react.”
It was similar to what had happened with Blake when she was convinced the others should hate her because of what happened with Adam and Yang.
“All you can do is try. But… I don’t think she’ll hate you.”
Elsa remained worried that she’d disappoint Anna, which was almost as bad. In the dreams she’d overcompensated after they’d reunited, but how to handle it in the OC was another matter entirely. There had to be a balance between letting Anna know she wasn’t going anywhere and not being obsessively clingy.
Unfortunately Elsa was bad at that kind of balance. “I.. guess. Optimism is always the better look, right?”
That was something that Ruby couldn’t answer. Because all she could do was let her know and they had to work on it from there. But working on it was far better than just writing it off as an inevitable conclusion and not bothering.
“Yep! Because if you’re constantly worrying about one outcome, you might accidentally self sabotage yourself in the process.”
In some ways, Ruby felt that had been Ozpin’s issue in the Dreams. That because of how long he had lived and he experienced and thus expected, he acted in a way that, despite whatever good intentions he had and the whole needing to save Remnant thing, ended up leading to the anger and fighting and fallout and then there just so far hadn’t been time to properly process it in the Dreams.
“Hmm.” Elsa leaned back. “Anxiety isn’t so easily ignored. I can tell myself a thousand times everything will be okay but this little goblins pops into my head and whispers in my ear all the terrible things that are going to happen. I read once that if you like...give it a name, it can help you overcome anxiety, with the mental picture of kicking it away or something.”
Elsa laughed softly. “Maybe I’ll call my demon Hans. After the bastard that tried to kill me and my sister.”
“I get that.” And she did. Still, she did feel that it sometimes then led to a self fulfilling prophecy through no one’s fault. Just the nature of it all and that was also hard to make sense of or come to terms with.
“That could work though!” And it seemed like something worth trying. Sometimes people just needed that visual. Though as Elsa mentioned just what Hans tried to do in the Dreams?
“I mean I wouldn’t want to give him more attention than necessary. But if it helps?”
“As far as I know, he’s off mucking stables in his homeland.” Elsa frowned. “Unfortunately he’s a Prince and while they disowned his actions we couldn’t exactly risk a war. Either way, I’m inclined to view him that way rather than someone to be afraid of.”
Ruby gave a quick nod at the description.
“Then that’s the way you get to view him!” And that was that. Or something.
Before Elsa could respond, or continue the discussion, their dessert arrived. Ruby’s s’mores brownie was nearly as big around as her head, and the chocolate heart attack that Elsa had ordered was taller, if not as big around.
Elsa stared at the desserts, then took a picture for posterity. “If we don’t survive these things, it’s been a pleasure knowing you, Ruby.”
The desserts were amazing looking all together and all Ruby could do was nod.
“Likewise. But also worth it.”
Now to see if they survived or not.