Diva - Chapter 12

Ruby arrived so early that only the sound guys, who might as well be nocturnal based on the hours they kept, beat her to the studio.  With plenty of time to spare, she claimed her typical spot at the PA station and got out her sketchbook.

She didn’t know why she bothered; she couldn't finish an outline when the front door drew her attention every time it opened.  She ended up waving to all of her coworkers as they arrived and ultimately gave up drawing when Velvet walked through the door.

“Good morning,” Ruby said, shoving her sketchbook away while Velvet stashed her bag beneath the table.

“Good morning, Ruby.”  By the time Velvet fitted her earpiece into place, a deliveryman wheeled several boxes through the door.  Ruby chuckled when Velvet gave her an amused look before they went to set up breakfast.  

“How was your day off?” Ruby asked while opening the first box.

“Oh, it was wonderful.”  After glancing around, Velvet leaned closer and lowered her voice.  “I spent the day with Coco.”

“No way.  Really?”

Velvet nodded, unable to keep a smile at bay.  

“She called me as soon as the schedule changed and asked if I wanted to hang out…and I said yes.” 

“And?” Ruby pressed, grabbing two aluminum trays and following Velvet to the buffet table.  “Did you have fun?”

“I had a marvelous time.”  Velvet set the trays down and sighed while removing the foil covers.  “We went to the art museum, had a fantastic lunch, walked through the park talking for hours…then had one of the best dinners I’ve ever had.”

“Lunch and dinner?”  When Velvet hummed and returned to the boxes for more food, Ruby trailed after her.  “That’s a long day.”

“It didn’t feel like it,” Velvet admitted.  A smile lingered on her lips as they carried the next set of trays to the table, so Ruby glanced at her several times before she eventually came out of that happy haze.  “How were things here?”

“Eh, you know.”  Thinking about yesterday, Ruby scrunched up her nose and shrugged.  “Cardin’s easy to work with, so that was a change.”

“A nice change?” Velvet clarified, sending her a quick look.

“Just a change,” she replied before laughing.  “I sound like a prisoner of war, don’t I?”

“A bit,” Velvet agreed before softly chuckling.  “Looks like Pyrrha’s still sick, too,” she commented, nodding to the soundstage.  “I think this is next week’s scene.”

“...does that mean it’s just Cardin again?”

“It should be Cardin and Weiss.”  

Ruby’s anticipation spiked at Weiss’ name, but she turned around when Velvet’s gaze lingered on someone or something over her shoulder.  She immediately spotted the source of Velvet’s curiosity - a young boy with mousy brown hair stood outside, trying and failing to convince the badge reader to accept his ID.  

“Who’s that?” she asked while he valiantly scanned his badge in every possible direction and orientation.  Velvet’s eyes narrowed before relaxing with the answer.

“That must be the new PA.”

“I didn’t look that new, did I?”  Faced with Velvet’s sympathetic smile, Ruby grimaced and stacked the last empty tray out of the way.  “Guess I should help him.”

Without Coco’s well-timed assistance, Ruby could have suffered the same fate as this unfortunate boy: trapped outside where everyone could watch a temperamental machine delay his arrival.  Paying that help forward, she pushed open the door for him.  He scrambled out of the way, nearly tripping over his feet in the process, before flashing a sheepish smile to go along with his blush and plentiful freckles.

“Hey,” she greeted him with a smile and outstretched hand.  “Can I see that?”

She motioned for his badge, which he looked at before handing it over.  “Thanks,” she said before flashing it in front of the scanner with a flick of her wrist.  When the light turned green and the lock slid out of place, she returned the badge to him.  “This thing’s finicky,” she explained, holding the door and motioning him through while he stared at her as if she had just worked a miracle.

Eventually, he shook himself out of that daze and responded with a big smile and sincere, “Thank you!”  When she nodded and motioned him inside again, he hurried through the doorway and turned around as soon as she followed him in.  

“I’m Oscar,” he added, one hand shooting towards her.

“Ruby.”  His eyes sparkled while she shook his hand, and he had the type of cute, chubby cheeks that she wanted to pinch.  “You’re the new PA, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”  He puffed out his chest and straightened to his full height, which was still an inch or two shorter than her, before his confidence evaporated like air let out of a balloon.  “You mean production assistant, right?”

“You got it.”  Ruby laughed at his relieved grin, which grew a little shy just a moment later.

“Are you one of the actresses?”

The genuine question, combined with his starstruck eyes, drew a surprised laugh as she shook her head.

“I’m a PA, too.”  When his eyes widened, she nodded.  “So we’ll be working together,” she added, much to his obvious delight.  “You, me, and Velvet.”

Ruby motioned to Velvet as Velvet joined them.  Velvet smiled at Ruby for the introduction before extending one hand to Oscar.

“It’s nice to meet you…?”

“Oscar!”

“Have you ever worked on a set before, Oscar?” Velvet asked as he shook her hand.

“Uh, not really.”  His blush returned and deepened when he noticed Ruby watching him.  “But I’m pretty organized and good with my hands, so…I should be able to help.”

“Props is going to love you,” Ruby surmised while Velvet nodded.  Oscar beamed at her again, reminding her very much of a puppy basking in attention.  “Are you good at wrangling people to work though?” she asked, teasingly arching a brow at him. 

“Well…I can wrangle cows pretty good - or herd sheep - think that’ll work?”  

Faced with the legitimate question, Ruby and Velvet shared a stunned look before they both laughed.

“That’s perfect.”

“And your ‘sheep’ just arrived,” Velvet added. 

Ruby’s gaze followed Velvet’s nod to the entrance, where Cardin had just strolled through the doors.  Wearing dark sunglasses and carrying a cup of coffee, he looked ill-prepared to be awake this early.  Just seeing him, however, sent a rush of conflicting emotions through her chest.  She was upset, embarrassed, and - most of all - just didn’t want to deal with him so soon.

“Can you introduce them?” she asked Velvet, glancing at Oscar before motioning to the soundstage.  “I’ll help set up.”

Despite a slightly furrowed brow, Velvet said, “Sure,” before gesturing Oscar after her.  Oscar glanced at Ruby one more time before following Velvet over to Cardin, but Ruby headed to the stage without watching the introduction.  She only managed to say, “Hey, guys -” to the props team before Cinder rounded the corner and locked onto her.  

“I need a new one,” Cinder said, waving her radio’s battery in Ruby’s face before dropping it in her hand.

“Got it.  Be right back.”

Cinder had turned away to direct the stagehands before Ruby finished the response, so she blew a breath through her lips and rushed over to the PA table.  There, she grabbed a fresh battery off the charger and dropped Cinder’s old one in its place.  She had just made it around the table, on a beeline back to Cinder, when Weiss arrived.

Their gazes met instantly and Ruby’s foot faltered mid-step.  Weiss also, for the briefest of seconds, hesitated.  Time seemed to slow as they looked at each other, with Ruby waiting to be dismissed as if last night never happened.  Instead, Weiss stared right at her - not through her - and walked over.

Ruby steeled herself for whatever was to come, but there was no frustration fueling those light footsteps, nor any agitation in that neutral expression.  Rather than trepidation, anticipation spurred through her limbs.  Fidgeting soon followed, and her heart joined in with flutters as those bright blue eyes never left hers.

Eventually, Weiss stopped in front of her, and she thought that this must be it - this was when Weiss told her to forget last night or, at the very least, not to tell anyone about it.  Instead, Weiss’ eyes flitted to the left and right before she lowered her voice, leaned closer, and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh...I’m - it’s a workday?”

“Yes, but -”  Weiss paused when Cardin passed through her line of vision, but she hardly got a scowl in place before he scurried to his room.  With him gone, she stepped closer and said, even more softly, “You deserve a day off.”

“But if I took the day off, who would deliver your coffee?”  

Before losing herself in Weiss’ piercing blue eyes, Ruby grabbed the cup of coffee from the table and brandished it like a magician about to make something disappear.  Weiss, however, pursed her lips before taking it.

“Have you reconsidered telling Glynda?”  When Ruby grimaced and glanced at Glynda’s office, Weiss briefly let her gaze follow.  “If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll tell her.  Or we could tell her together.”

“It’s fine.  I don’t want to, you know, make it a big deal.  And nothing really happened, so…I don’t want to get into a weird thing where it’s his word against mine.”

“His word against ours,” Weiss corrected.  “Cardin might be paid a thousand times more than you are, but that doesn’t mean he gets to treat you however he wants.”  Pausing for a second, she took a deep breath and added, “None of us do.”

Ruby’s brow furrowed at the comment but, when she didn’t reply, Weiss shook her head.

“I’m not trying to pressure you,” she added in a soft, almost patient tone.  “I just…want you to consider that you won’t be the last one he does that to.”

Ruby’s stomach dropped as Weiss pointed out what should have been obvious.  The only worse thing that could come out of last night would be if it happened to someone else and she knew that she could have potentially prevented it.  

“You don’t have to go to Glynda and get him fired though,” Weiss offered.  “You can just let me handle it.”

“How would you do that?” Ruby asked.  A smirk quickly found its way to Weiss’ lips.

“I have my ways…”  Sensing Ruby’s hesitation, she added, “He’ll never know you said anything, but he’ll be…discouraged…from even thinking about doing something like that again.”

“Ok…”  Ruby nodded, knowing that she would accept any repercussions regardless.  “You know how this place works better than I do, so…do whatever you think’s best.”

“Thank you.  And rest assured that he’ll suffer appropriately.  I’ll make sure of it.”

When Ruby chuckled at the response, Weiss nearly smiled.

“I’d feel bad for him, but…”

“You shouldn’t.”  

“Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t…” Ruby mused before sending Weiss a small smile.  “I still feel a little bad though.”

“Of course you do…” Weiss sighed, shaking her head before meeting Ruby’s gaze.  “A consciousness won’t get you far in this industry.”

“Who said I want to get far?”

Weiss’ brow creased at the question, but Ruby just smiled at the confusion and at the strange, unspoken connection that persisted even after a good night’s sleep.  It felt as if she had made it past one of Weiss’ walls and, for some reason, Weiss hadn’t kicked her out yet.

“Ruby.”

Weiss clicked her tongue at the interruption, but Ruby cringed as Cinder stormed up to them.

“Sorry,” Ruby said, quickly handing Cinder the replacement battery.

“More urgency next time,” Cinder quipped while connecting it to her headset.

“I’m the one who asked to speak with her,” Weiss smoothly replied.

Ruby’s brow rose at the cover-up, but she mustered a neutral expression when Cinder’s narrowed eyes locked onto her.  Cinder probably read right through Ruby, but Weiss’ impassive, confident demeanor overrode Ruby’s shocked one.

“Pardon the interruption then,” Cinder said through gritted teeth, tilting her chin to Weiss before stalking back to the set.  Weiss watched her go before sneaking a triumphant look Ruby’s way.  

“I’ll be in my room,” she added before spinning on her heel, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and walking away.

Confused, but also pleasantly surprised, Ruby watched Weiss go - the white blouse and black skirt clinging to her slender figure - before blinking out of that daze and searching for Velvet.  Finding Velvet and Oscar carrying boxes onto the stage, she went to help - she almost made it too, but a certain blond cameraman struggling with a camera caught her attention.

“Jaune?  Need a hand?”

“If you don’t mind -”  

He lifted one end of the camera and tugged it closer to the metal rails semi-permanently bolted to the floor, so Ruby grabbed the back end to share the load.  Once they carefully lowered it onto the tracks, he locked it upright and patted its side.

“Thanks, Ruby.” 

“No problem.”  She nearly walked away but, when a thought popped into her head, turned back.  “So…how’d it go?”

“How’d what go?”

“You know.”  She motioned with one hand before lowering her voice.  “Taking care of Pyrrha.”

“Oh.”  

As soon as Jaune rubbed the back of his neck and turned away, Ruby sighed.

“You chickened out, didn’t you.”

“I didn’t want to bother her,” he explained, so Ruby set her hands on her hips and shook her head at him.  “I wouldn't want me bothering me,” he protested, so she finally cracked a smile.

“You’re overthinking this.  Just take her some soup!  Before she gets better and thinks you don’t care.”

His eyes widened as she sent him a knowing look.  “Didn’t think about that, did you?” she teased but, when he mumbled something and shook his head, left him to think about it.  “I’m going to set up,” she added, pointing over her shoulder before heading that way.

Today’s scene involved someone’s living room.  Whose living room was unclear, but she would guess that it belonged to a certain Chase Gordon based on the empty beer bottles scattered around and discarded laundry piled on the floor.

“Ruby,” Velvet whispered, motioning Ruby over and handing her a box cutter to help open up boxes of decorations.  “Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“About Emerald.”  When Ruby slowly shook her head, Velvet glanced around before lowering her voice.  “Apparently, she threatened to file a harassment suit against Cardin, so they promoted her and moved her to another film.”

“Really?”

Velvet nodded but said nothing as a member of the props team retrieved the opened box.  Once they left, Ruby said, “Huh…so that’s what she meant about him being her ticket out of here.”

As realization dawned in Velvet’s eyes, Ruby frowned in Cardin’s direction.  Having witnessed how he treated Emerald, she wasn’t surprised that he pushed things too far.  She also wasn’t surprised that Emerald used the situation for personal gain.  What was actually surprising, and disappointing, was that he hadn’t gotten into any trouble.

“He gets less attractive the more you look at him.”  

Startled out of those thoughts, Ruby turned toward Weiss, who rolled her eyes and added, “Believe me, I know.”

A laugh slipped through Ruby’s lips as Velvet politely smiled and motioned to Oscar.  “I should help him,” she explained before heading over to their newest crewmate.  That presented the opportunity for Weiss to exit the conversation, too - instead, she lingered, her posture subtly relaxed and at ease.

“You need something…” Ruby concluded after a brief silence, raking her thoughts for what it might be.  “More coffee?” she guessed, but Weiss shook her head.

“I thought you’d be better at this by now.”  The remark sounded almost teasing as Weiss crossed her arms and tapped one finger on her upper arm.  “Apparently, it’s going to take years to set up this wasteland.”  The dirty apartment earned a disdainful look before she met Ruby’s gaze and added, “I was wondering if you’d practice lines with me in the meantime.”

“Me?”  That was the type of dumb question that usually earned Weiss’ annoyance, so Ruby quickly shook her head and said, “But I’m not an actor.”

“You can’t be worse than that blundering oaf.”

Weiss shot Cardin a glare cold enough to freeze lava before motioning Ruby after her.  Recognizing that there would be no argument or negotiation, Ruby gawked for another second before catching Velvet’s attention and pointing after Weiss.  Once Velvet nodded, Ruby caught up to Weiss midway to her room.

“If I’d known they switched scenes last minute, I wouldn't even be here,” Weiss grumbled before walking into her room and gesturing for Ruby to close the door behind them.  By the time Ruby did that and turned around, Weiss pressed the booklet of lines into her hands.  

“Page one-fifty-two,” Weiss said before standing just a few feet away from Ruby.  Ruby, meanwhile, glanced at the booklet in her hands, which she had only handled once when tasked with highlighting almost the entire thing.  Her internal timer said that Weiss’ patience was already wearing thin, so she thumbed to the correct page and then glanced up.

“I just…?”

“Read the lines,” Weiss instructed, the words short but lacking their typical bite.  “And try not to read mine,” she added with an almost indistinguishable smile.

“Cardin really set the bar low, didn’t he?” 

Ruby’s heart skipped when Weiss nearly smiled, reminding her that last night still existed in both of their memories.  So, rather than be terrified about how poorly this could go, she took a deep, steadying breath and focused on the page.  

Considering she lacked any experience reading scripts, she needed several seconds to make sense of the formatting and figure out what she was supposed to say versus how she was supposed to say it.  Eventually, she determined her starting point and began to read.

“How’d you get in here?” she said in an imitation of Cardin’s voice, but Weiss instantly raised a hand.

“Let’s...lose the voice.”

“Not doing anything for you?” Ruby asked before clearing her throat and starting over.  “Alright…how’d you get in here?”

“You left the door unlocked,” Weiss replied with a hint of disdain.  “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”

Ruby scoffed - because the script told her to - then shook her head and said, “That’s still breaking and entering -”

“Add it to my rap sheet,” Weiss interrupted coolly.  “I’m not here to chit-chat - I’m here with an offer.”

After glancing at the script, Ruby awkwardly motioned for Weiss to continue.  The poorly timed response must have thrown off the entire scene, but Weiss didn’t break character for a second.

“Tomorrow night, there will be a break-in during the gala.  The police will assume it’s me, of course, and they’ll completely ignore evidence that someone else is behind this.”

“Why should I believe anything you say?”

“Because why else would I risk coming here?”  Idiot, Weiss somehow voiced with her eyes and slight scowl alone.  

A smile threatened to slip onto Ruby’s lips as she realized that Weiss’ disgust could apply to both Cardin and Cardin’s character.  She quickly forced the smile away and replied, “Then what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Easy.  Leave this somewhere the police will find it.”  Absent the real prop, Weiss brandished her water bottle instead.  “Once the police get their hands on it, they’ll have no choice but to pursue other leads.”

The script explicitly told Ruby not to take the water bottle, so she didn’t.  She studied it for a good while, trying to appear as if she was considering the offer, before saying, “How do I know I can trust you?” 

“You’ll just have to try and see what happens.”  

When Ruby glanced at the booklet for the next line, Weiss sighed and stepped closer.  

“Listen.  It’s not about trust anymore.  Someone is behind this, and they’re using me to slip through the cracks.  If we don’t work together, they’ll get what they’re after before anyone realizes what happened.  So, what do you say?  Are you with me?”

Ruby glanced at the page in her hands then looked at Weiss and found no words.  She knew what she was supposed to say - the page made that crystal clear - but her mind froze in disbelief instead.  It was one thing to watch Weiss act on a screen or the stage.  It was another to stand right in front of her, seeing every little quirk and mannerism, feeling the words and emotions behind them.

“Wow, Weiss…you shouldn’t worry about your dad buying parts.  You’re an incredible actress.”

Surprise flashed through Weiss’ eyes, but she quickly schooled her expression.  “That’s not the next line,” she said, tapping the booklet in Ruby’s hands.

“Right.”  Shaking off her awe, Ruby looked down and read, “If this is a trap, you’re going to jail for the rest of your life.”

“Same as you, hm?”  

“My record’ll be clean.”

“Oh, please.”  Weiss’ soft scoff was nearly as pitying as her gaze.  “You really think they’ll let you walk when this is over?  They’ll thank you while putting you in handcuffs.”

“Grace promised -”

“Grace has as much sway at the department as I do,” Weiss snapped before throwing her arms in the air and turning away.  Ruby hardly glanced down before Weiss spun back to her.  “You said you wanted to make things right, didn’t you?  To fix all your dumb, alcohol-ridden mistakes?  Well, this is your chance.  This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.  So you either take it -”  Weiss shoved her water bottle into Ruby’s stomach.  “Or you spend the rest of your life wishing you’d listened to me.”

Ruby looked at the water bottle, then at the lines, then got lost in Weiss’ determined, confident eyes, before swallowing and saying, “Fine.  I’ll do it.”

The script called for a ‘triumphant’ smile, but Ruby would describe Weiss’ as ‘pleased’ or ‘delighted’ as the scene ended.  “Good,” Weiss remarked while plucking the script and water bottle from Ruby’s hands.  “And you said you’re not an actor,” she added.

“Definitely not as good as you.”

“Well, that’s stating the obvious.”  Weiss casually flipped a hand through her long ponytail before leveling Ruby with a discerning gaze.  “You’re better than Cardin though.  Which isn’t truly saying much, but he is popular amongst a certain crowd.”

While Ruby nodded at the fair assessment, Weiss’ expression grew thoughtful.

“You could do it if you wanted to.”

“You just told me I won’t make it far in this business,” Ruby pointed out before chuckling and shaking her head.  “I’m not pretty enough anyway.  My sister could probably do it - she’s got the whole ‘stylish and beautiful’ thing going on.”

Weiss opened her mouth but paused and, ultimately, said nothing.  Instead, she nodded and returned the script and water bottle to the table.

“You convince Cardin’s character to help you though?” Ruby asked as the scene’s implications caught up to her.  “That’ll throw a wrench in things for Grace…”

While Ruby mulled over the possible repercussions for Pyrrha’s character, who had spent most of her time thus far chasing Weiss and also trying to wrangle Cardin into being helpful, Weiss sent her a bemused look.

“Want to know something?”

“Spoilers?” Ruby guessed.

“Possibly.”

“Of course!”

Ruby’s enthusiasm pleased Weiss, who smiled and moved closer.  Her blue eyes flitted to the side as if making sure they were still alone before she lowered her voice and said, “Grace and Parker end up together.”

Ruby’s jaw dropped so far that it nearly hit the floor.

“But - you’re the bad guy!” 

“Am I?”

Weiss’ cheeky smile left Ruby shell-shocked, which only delighted Weiss more.  “Cute,” she mused before tapping Ruby’s chin.  “Close that before you let flies in.”

Ruby’s jaw snapped shut, but she turned around as Weiss walked past her to sit on the sofa.

“Emerald said you betray everyone,” she pointed out, but Weiss scoffed while sitting down and lazily motioning for Ruby to sit in the chair across from her.

“Emerald was hardly even privy to knowledge about this film.  I was told the whole plot before agreeing to a multi-picture deal.”

That made Weiss a much better source of information, not that Emerald was ever a particularly great source of information.  Imagining the future of the characters she had watched for weeks now, Ruby shook her head.

“You and Pyrrha?  I can’t wait for that.”

“Our characters,” Weiss corrected before waving the thought away.  “Let’s hope this film does well enough that they greenlight the sequel.”

“I’ll go see it a thousand times if that helps.”

“And I wondered what you did with your free time…” Weiss lightly sighed.

The response felt like an inquiry into what Ruby actually did with her free time, but Weiss didn’t come right out and ask so Ruby didn’t overshare.  She didn’t want to annoy Weiss with what were probably boring and trivial hobbies compared to the life of a world-famous actress.  Before Ruby pointed out something along those lines, however, Velvet’s voice crackled through the microphone in her ear.

“Ruby?  Makeup’s ready for Weiss now.”

Hearing the voice, Weiss sighed and pushed herself to her feet.  “Got it,” Ruby replied to Velvet before following Weiss to the door.

“Now I get to pretend like I don’t want to claw Cardin’s eyes out,” Weiss muttered, leaving her room with Ruby on her heels.

“Oh, Ruby!”

Ruby hardly shut the door before Oscar waved one arm in the air and hurried over to her.  As soon as he noticed Weiss, however, he careened to a stop.

“Sorry,” he blurted out.  “I was just looking for Ruby -”  He motioned to Ruby before turning back to Weiss, who responded with a withering look.  

“Who are you and how old are you?” 

If his eyes had been wide before, now they were as big as saucers.

“I - uh, I’m - my name is -” was all he got out before Ruby set a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“This is Oscar, the new PA.  And I’m sure he’s at least old enough to work here, right?”  She glanced at Oscar for confirmation - he nodded - before smiling at Weiss.  Weiss frowned at Oscar, then at Ruby’s hand on his shoulder, before heading to the makeup department without another word.

“Did I say something wrong?” he whispered while Coco greeted Weiss in front of the makeup counters.

“No, she’s always like that.”

“Scary?” he elaborated.

“Pretty much.”  Ruby chuckled at the succinct description and his befuddled look.  “Just don’t get in her way, or annoy her, or touch any of her things, and you should be fine.”

His brow furrowed as he digested that advice, so Ruby nudged his shoulder.

“What’d you need me for?”

“Oh.  I wanted to know what we’re supposed to do now that the stage is set up.”  He pointed at the soundstage, which now looked like a real apartment surrounded by cameras and lighting screens.

“Now we wait for someone to need something.”  

“What do we do while we wait?”

Smiling at the questions, she led him to the PA table and leaned against it.  “We just kind of hang out,” she answered before patting the table beside her.  He looked uncertain at first but eventually stood beside her and watched the rest of the crew put the finishing touches on their preparations.  Velvet joined them a short while later, and the two of them took turns explaining some of the finer details to their new coworker.

At the same time, Ruby glanced at Weiss often.  The makeup artists styled her hair with a perfect curl before touching up her makeup, then she was sent into the changing room with her outfit for the day.

Cardin beat Weiss to the stage wearing a t-shirt and joggers befitting someone lounging in their apartment.  He immediately made himself at home trying out the sofa before picking up every interesting decoration that caught his eye.  Ruby could practically feel the props team cringe every time he touched something without returning it to exactly where he got it.  Fortunately, Weiss joined him before he unknowingly reset the whole scene.

Her presence chilled the set like a winter cold front, especially as she leveled Cardin with the most lethal glare Ruby had ever seen.  Cardin wisely retreated to the other side of the room and avoided her gaze like the plague, but she didn’t keep her distance like usual.  Today, she stalked right over to him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and yanked him down so that she could say something in his ear.  Whatever it was, it wiped the smirk right off his face and drained the blood from his cheeks.  His gaze flitted to Ruby as soon as Weiss released him, prompting her to snap her fingers in his face for his attention.

“Do you understand?” she asked, to which he reluctantly nodded.  Satisfied with that response, she spun on her heel and returned to her starting point outside the ‘door’ of the apartment.  There, Ozpin provided her with several instructions before doing the same for Cardin.

“Alright, everyone,” Ozpin eventually called out, stepping down from the stage while Cardin flopped onto the sofa.  “Run it from the top.”

All conversation and motion ceased as the studio’s attention zeroed in on the two actors gracing the stage.  Weiss took a deep breath and set her hand on the door knob; Cardin reclined on the sofa, let his arm fall to the ground with a bottle in his hand, and pretended to be asleep.

“And…action.”

A half second was all Weiss needed to shimmy the door open and slink inside.  She made a face at the mess before silently picking her way over to the sofa.  Cardin slept all the while, mouth open and slight snores filling the room.  She made it to him without causing a stir, then crossed her arms and, after brief consideration, unceremoniously kicked the bottle out of his hand.  He flew awake, sputtering and swinging his arms, while she calmly stepped out of his reach.  Eventually, he settled down enough to take in his surroundings and quickly locked onto Weiss.

“How’d you get in here?”

Having read the lines with Weiss just moments earlier, Ruby had a completely different experience watching the scene unfold.  Not only did she know what Weiss would say, but she knew Cardin’s lines before he said them.  It also meant she knew when he messed up or ad-libbed, either because he thought something else worked better or because he didn’t remember the actual line.

Weiss’ delivery was perfect, as usual.  Cardin’s wasn’t half-bad either, and he didn’t even goof off between runs.  As soon as the first practice ended, he returned to the sofa as if it were his only sanctuary from the grim reaper stalking the stage.  

No one complained about his sudden professionalism, especially when they went from practice to real film in just two tries.  From there, it only took five filmed takes before Ozpin watched the result on a tablet, nodding along all the while, and said, “Perfect.”

A silent rejoice swept through the building as Cinder sprang into motion.  She motioned the camera crew and sound team to remove their equipment then tapped the microphone in her ear and said, “PAs, clear the set.  Then you can go home.”

Receiving their marching orders, Ruby and Velvet exchanged glances before motioning Oscar over to the stage.  They arrived just as Weiss was leaving, so Ruby stood aside and waited for the starlet to safely pass.  

“Well,” Weiss huffed to Ruby rather than breeze back to her room.  “Apparently, he can be motivated.”  

She shot Cardin another deadly glare when he considered using the steps to pass by her, so he turned around and hopped off the front of the stage instead.  The wide berth pleased her enough that she smiled and, for the briefest moment, looked like she might let Ruby in on the joke.  Then her eyes flitted to Velvet and Oscar, and her expression muted. 

“Have a good night,” she added calmly before walking away.

“Y-yeah, you, too!” 

Ruby added an embarrassing wave that Weiss, thankfully, didn’t see.  Velvet did though, her head tilting slightly as she sent Ruby a curious look.  Fortunately, Oscar saved Ruby from any questions by raising his arms and looking around.

“So…what now?”

“Now, we put all this stuff away,” Ruby answered, leading them onto the soundstage to undo all of their hard work.

Clearing the stage was far more enjoyable than setting up.  All they had to do was lift, carry, box, or drag everything to the props department and find a decent corner to store it in.  The semi-mindless work presented plenty of time to ruminate over the day, which left her buzzing with energy.

If she woke up tomorrow morning and discovered that this was all just a dream, she wouldn't be surprised.  Dreaming up an alternate reality where Weiss was a surprisingly kind, decent person seemed like a logical result of a mental breakdown.  That, or inhaling too many paint fumes had finally eroded her mind to the point where she was imagining herself living in a bizarro-world with everyone’s alter-egos.

Regardless of how great today was, she wouldn't hold her breath about tomorrow.  If she had learned anything, it was that Weiss’ mood changed like the wind - tomorrow might very well mark the return of the hurricane-force gales she had grown accustomed to.

Even though she told herself not to get her hopes up, she looked forward to learning the answer.  And she hoped that she was wrong.