Ch 78: Finals (1)

More nightmarish than the Grimm. Inducing more wails of despair out of its victims than Ray's Hell Training. And more inevitable than the raising of the sun. It holds no discrimination. Bringing dread and anguish to young and old alike. FINALS!

It was the first week of August. A hint of the crispness of the coming fall was just entering the air. A time of fantastic weather in the afternoon urging the young to go out and play and beautiful sunsets prompting the old to reminisce over the magnificent life they have lived. With only two weeks left of school before the coming two-week break, many students found their minds wandering to the vacations and days of idle relaxation they had planned. Unfortunately, a looming monster blotted out such joyful thoughts from their minds. FINALS!

Yes, not even huntsmen and huntresses in training were capable of escaping the bane of youth. Hunting Grimm wasn't just about swinging a weapon around, after all. And so, on this beautiful day, Team RWBY found themselves holed up in their room studying. Preparing to face their greatest challenge yet. FINALS! Important things need to be said thrice.

"Why~? Someone put me out of my misery." Ruby wined, rivers of tears streaming down her face as she rested her pounding head on her opened workbook, loath to go over the practice quiz she and the rest of her team had just completed.

"Come one, Ruby. You can do it." Ray encouraged as he rubbed her back as he tried to hide his smile. He hated finals as much as anyone, but he was anticipating this one for a very specific reason.

"And why are you so cheery?" Yang glared up at her brother and snapped. All this studying was giving her a headache and making her snippy.

Ray grinned arrogantly back at her and leaned back in his chair, the better to take in the sight of the four beautiful girls before him, faces twisted in concentration, frustration, determination, and resignation. The sight tickled his sadistic little black heart.

"Well~~" he drawled, pulling out the one word as long as he could as he drank in the sight, "I've already finished my final exams. You see I'm going to be proctoring all your exams, so I had to take mine last week. And I have to say. I'm greatly looking forward to these next two weeks of watching y'all struggle while I kick back and relax. There is nothing quite as sweet as another's suffering." Ray let out an infuriating sigh of contentment as he looked up at the ceiling and smiled

Ray's teasing words sent Yang grumbling back to her workbook and set Ruby off crying even harder. What had been a stream became twin fountains as she lunged across the table to cling pitifully to her self-proclaimed BFF's arm, tear flying everywhere. "Weiss. Help." she wailed, "Ray is bullying me."

"Quiet you. I'm trying to study." Weiss pushed Ruby's head back with one hand, her eyes never leaving the book in front of her.

"Would you like me to help you study, Weiss?" Ray asked as he set all four legs of his chair back on the ground. It may not be to the extend of when he had been apologizing to Ruby, and he hadn't once apologized for it, nor did he intend to. But ever since his failed confession, he had been trying to find excuses to interact with and reingratiate himself with the ice queen. Unfortunately…

"I don't need you." Weiss coldly dismissed his help. Seemingly unbothered by her curt attitude, Ray shrugged his shoulders and picked up the balling Ruby by her armpits to set her on his lap.

"There, there." He said, patting the little red cutie's head, "Don't cry. Your big brother wouldn't really leave you out to dry. Look." Ray pulled out a spiral notebook from his bag, "I made a copy of the tests I took. They should be very similar to what y'all will be taking. Why don't we all go over them together?"

"I'm the older twin." Ruby pouted cutely at the suggestion of more studying and Ray's intentional dig at their old point of debate but obediently remained seated in Ray's lap as he opened the notebook to reveal pages full of handwritten questions and answers.

"How did you get permission to make a copy of the tests?" Blake asked as she moved her chair over to sit on his left.

*HA* "Ray doesn't ask for permission. He just does what he wants." Yang laughed as she walked over to kneel on Blake's bed behind Ray so she could see over his shoulder.

"Nearly photographic memory." Ray explained with a smug smile and a double eyebrow raise for emphasis. Their joking finished the four of them quickly got down to focusing on the problems before them. "You sure you don't want to join us, Weiss?" Ray asked one last time, but she ignored him.

However, despite her refusal, Weiss found herself shooting the occasional furtive glance Ray's way as they continued to study. While focusing on the hand-copied tests before them, the three girls unconsciously relaxed their postures as they focused entirely on learning what they should expect on their exams next week.

Ray's right hand was pointing at lines as he explained his thought process for each question, but his left was resting casually around Blake's waist, subconsciously stroking her hip. At the same time, Blake was leaning against his left arm, seemingly unaware that she was pressing her soft chest against his biceps. Ruby had stopped crying and was leaning comfortably back against Ray's chest as she sat in his lap, occasionally shifting her seat as she tried to avoid whatever hard thing her brother had in his pocket that was poking her butt.

These two may have been unaware of what they were doing, but Yang certainly wasn't. She had continued to lean further forward as they continued studying and now had her arms draped across both her sibling's shoulders and her pillowy breasts resting on top of Ray's head like it was the most natural thing in the world.

However, it wasn't any of these things that caused a green snake to wiggle annoyingly in Weiss's gut and made her be unable to stop herself from secretly glancing over every couple of seconds. It was the conspicuously open space to Ray's right that they had all instinctively left open. It called to her. The void at his side asking to be filled. To be filled by her.

But her pride wouldn't allow it. She had already refused Ray's help today, and even if she hadn't, she refused to surrender to that lecherous philanderer. If she went over and sat down now, such a submission would not only be going back on her words that she didn't need him but would signify that she was agreeable to becoming a part of his harem. She was torn between the chibi Weiss devil on her shoulder telling her to hold firm and not to forsake her pride as a Schnee and the Weiss-headed snake in her belly telling her how much she wanted to be a part of that cozy little study huddle. Meanwhile, the angel that was supposed to be on her other shoulder was instead on Ruby's playing with her chibi angel self. Soon, Weiss couldn't take it any longer.

"Let's go study in the library." Weiss suddenly jumped to her feet and grabbed Ruby by the hand, yanking her up and pulling her towards the door. "Studying in the library will be much more conducive than study in our dorm room." Weiss gave a hurried excuse as she half dragged Ruby out of their room.

Ray, Blake, and Yang shared a knowing smile as they gathered up their books along with Ruby and Weiss's, which she had forgotten in her rush.

"So, how much longer do you think this is going to last?" Yang asked as they followed after them.

"Hmm, it could be a while. She'll probably be back tolerating me and pretending I never confessed to her once the break is over. But it will probably be a while before she is willing to accept not being my one and only." Ray thought about it for a bit and said.

"You're that certain she is going to come around?" Blake asked skeptically. Weiss had been very vocal about how disastrous her date with Ray had been and how he had insulted her once she had gotten back to their dorm that night, and frankly, Blake thought Weiss would sooner die than accept having to share the man she liked.

Personally, she didn't have any problem sharing Ray with Weiss. She had wanted to have a big family ever since she was a little girl. Especially after she had turned her back on her parents and then her mentor. She dreamed of being surrounded by people who loved and accepted her for who she was and would never let her be alone again.

And she liked Weiss. Not like a lover perhaps, but certainly more than just a friend. Blake could see them spending the rest of their lives together as sisters sharing the same man. If what she had experienced that night she found Ray reading her book was anything to go by, she was confident he would be able to satisfy ALL their needs without any problems.

However, as much as Blake wanted to be a part of a big family, she was afraid to be a part of one for those same reasons. Afraid that history would repeat itself and she would end up hurting those closest to her again. And she would be lying if she didn't admit she felt a little insecure over the fact that Ray had refused to "take" her and then confessed to Weiss only a few weeks later. Her head understood or at least had plenty of excuses ready to soothe her, but her heart still felt lonely and afraid she was going to be forgotten.

Ray nodded as he smiled at her, glad she was so understanding and open to the idea of being part of a polygamist relationship, unaware of the thoughts running through her head. "She'll come around. It will just take some time for the reality of the situation and her own wants and desires to wear that overgrown pride of her's down enough for her to admit it. But then that's why I told her right away instead of easing her into it." He reached out with his free hand and squeezed her hand.

To Blake, it was a reassuring touch that let her know he was still here and he wasn't leaving. To Ray, it was just his natural desires and instincts as a man to be near and touch the woman he liked, even if he couldn't be her man yet for the sake of her mental health. Sometimes, one didn't have to know the right thing to do at every given moment. Sometimes just being yourself and being there solved the issue without anyone even needing to realize there had been one and far better than any scheming could have.

On Ray's other side, Yang smiled as she watched her favorite brother and partner's subconscious flirting. Seeing people she loved smiling together always made her feel like a great big burning ball of fire was blazing inside her, and she just had to let it out.

*HAHA* So, with a hearty laugh, she swung her bag back out of her way and threw her arms around the necks of two of her favorite people, pulling them together in a hug. Her abrupt actions caused Ray and Blake to stumble a bit as they tried to continue walking while being squeezed together like this. But with lots of laughter, giggling, smiles, and bumping against each other since Yang refused to release them, they eventually figured it out and made it safely to the library with their arms around each other and all their studying material accounted for.