Cover art by mojojoj27827860.

He knew he wasn't alone the moment his eyes opened.

Jaune Arc laid in bed, consciousness slowly returning to him as he woke up in the morning. It was a morning like no other.

At first he thought it may have still been a dream, but as seconds passed and weariness left his body there was no mistaking it. He was not alone in his bed. Only unlike previous times, it was not a younger sister who had decided to crawl into bed with him after having a bad dream. No, the girl who hovered above him looked nothing like any of his siblings.

She was young, perhaps even younger than him. A pair of silver eyes stood out against pale flesh, while short red-black hair hung down loosely as she knelt over him. Her knees rested on either side of his legs, while her hands pressed down on the mattress up at his torso. Her face was only a couple feet away from his own. There was only one natural reaction to have once he had fully woken up and grasped the situation he was in.

"Ahh!" he screamed, shoving himself back to sit up against the wall behind him.

"Gyah!" the girl screamed in turn, recoiling with such force that she fell backwards off the front of his bed.

Jaune was wide awake now, his eyes locked on to where the mystery girl had fallen. He had never seen her before, and had no idea who she was. A friend of one of his sister's maybe? No one had mentioned a sleepover before, but with it being the weekend it wasn't out of the question. Had she merely gotten lost going to the bathroom? If so that still didn't explain what she had been doing watching him sleep.

The girl stood up, brushing the wrinkles out of her black corset and skirt. He had never seen clothes like those before. Even with seven sisters this was completely new and unfamiliar. Seriously, who wore a hooded red cape anyway? It was like she was dressed for Halloween or something, but that was still months away.

Still, that was far from the most important question right now, and Jaune had every intention of getting answers. After all, he was seventeen! He was a man! He wouldn't be afraid of some girl who had snuck into his room. If he wanted to be a huntsman, he had to man up and get answers!

Sitting upright now and filled with confidence, he finally spoke. "So who are you? And what are you doing in my room?"

The girl looked up at him, her hands ceasing their work on her clothes. She stood frozen for a moment before a dark smile crept on her lips. "Who am I?" she echoed. "You dare ask such an insulting question of me?"

Jaune blinked. "Um... yeah. You're in my room. Are you looking for one of my sisters?"

She shook her head. "Oh no, your sisters do not concern me. I have found exactly what I'm looking for right here. The perfect meal to satisfy my hunger."

This was getting really weird really fast. Being a teenage boy with certain urges, it was only natural that he had thought certain things about some of his sister's friends. But the idea of something actually happening with one of them... he never imagined it actually coming true. He was woefully unprepared for such an encounter.

"Look, I don't even know your name. How do you even... have those kinds of feelings for me if we've never met before?"

Silver eyes widened, and the girl shook her head wildly. "What? No! I don't like you! I'm a vampire!"

He blinked again. Had he heard her right? "Vampire?"

The girl grabbed her red cloak and pulled it in front of her body, covering up the bottom portion of her face in the process. "Darker than black! Redder than the blood of a thousand paper cuts! I am she who stalks the night in search of prey!" She threw the cloak back to reveal herself fully once more. "Cower before me, mortal! For I... am Ruby Bloodrose!"

Mortal? Bloodrose? The display might have been intimidating if not for the fact that she looked like a cosplayer on her way to attend a convention. Or the fact that she was a teenage girl. Jaune simply stared at her in disbelief. This girl, this... Ruby. She was really getting into her act, wasn't she?

"Bloodrose?" he asked. "Is that your real last name?"

An embarrassed frown crept onto her face. "Well... no. It's actually just Rose. But Bloodrose just sounds so much cooler!"

Sure it did. If you were a kid. "Right... so if you want to get back to one of my sister's rooms, just go through that door and take a left."

Tiny hands squeezed into fists. "For the last time, I'm not here for your sisters! I'm here to drink your blood!"

A small laugh slipped through Jaune's lips. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you-"

He never got a chance to finish before he felt a hand grasp his throat. She had moved fast. Too fast to even perceive. One moment she was standing at the foot of his bed, the next she was right next to him.

She was strong too. Too strong to be believed. The hand around his neck was choking the life out of him. He couldn't breathe. And try as he might to pry the single hand off with both of his, it would not budge.

"Do not take me lightly," she snarled softly. A pair of sharp, pointed teeth shone in the dim light filtering through the window. They looked too genuine to be props. They looked like real teeth. Combined with her amazing speed and strength...

"Vampire..." he gasped.

Ruby finally released her grip on him, and took a step back with a smile on her face. "Now you understand, mortal. You know that I am not one to be trifled with. So prepare yourself to be eaten. Do not struggle, for it will only make your demise all the more painful!"

Jaune closed his eyes, too frightened to even scream. This may have been the end of him, but that didn't mean it would have to be the end of his family. He would not alert them to his plight. He would not risk them being eaten too. If Ruby had told him that his sisters did not interest her, then he would not drag them into this mess. His only regret in life was that he would never get a chance to go off and become a huntsman. He had gotten his acceptance letter from Beacon a few weeks ago, and it would have only been a couple of days before he would get to go there to begin his new life and career.

But now it was all over. Over before it even began. Jaune sat there, tensely waiting to feel Ruby's sharp teeth bite down on his neck and take his blood.

...any moment now.

Seconds passed by and nothing. One blue eye opened to see what was going on, and to his surprise, Ruby remained standing by the side of his bed. The anticipation was killing him.

"So... are you going to drink my blood or what?"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Don't pressure me! I'm not good under pressure!"

Jaune held his hands up defensively. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"It's not like I was freaking out about how I was gonna drink your blood or anything!" she stated very specifically. "It's not like I spent all night trying to work up the nerve to do it, and now that it's morning I can't go outside!"

The detailed explanation of what she had not done gave Jaune pause. "...were you?"

Ruby shuffled nervously, her gaze turning to the floor. "Yeah maybe."

He didn't know whether or not to laugh, for doing so might invite more of her wrath. In this tense moment, only one thing came to mind. "Would you call it... blood pressure?"

To his surprise, Ruby snorted a small laugh. She looked back up at him with a genuine smile on her face. "Yang would like you."

He had no idea who that was, but the fact that he had made her laugh could only be a good thing. Maybe she wouldn't kill him now! After all, how could you kill something that you liked?

"So if you don't mind me asking, why were you freaking out?"

"Um... well..."

"Is it because you realized I'm such a nice person and you couldn't bear the thought of killing me?" he asked hopefully.

She snorted dismissively. "Nah."

"Oh. Um... did you think I was cute? Too cute to kill?"

"What?" she gasped. "Ew, no!"

Ew? That was a little too harsh. She didn't need to go that far. Especially because she was about to kill him. Talk about adding insult to injury. Or in this case, insult to death.

"Then why?"

Her face was contorted with adorable anger, and her tiny body was literally shaking. "It's because the sight of blood makes me squeamish, okay!"

Jaune stared at her in disbelief. Had he just heard her correctly? She was a vampire, and the sight of blood made her squeamish?

"You're joking," he deadpanned.

A soft sigh slipped through her lips. "I wish I was."

"So let me get this straight."

"Go."

"You're a vampire."

She nodded. "Yep."

"A creature who drinks blood."

Fangs flashed for him again. "Can confirm."

"Sunlight burns you."

She winced, sucking in lightly through clenched teeth. "Very painful."

"A mistress of the night."

Her brow furrowed. "That sounds dirty."

Jaune poked his chest with a thumb. "And you want to eat me."

Ruby shrugged. "In theory."

"So tell me. If you're not going to hurt me because the sight of my blood will make you pass out, why shouldn't I just toss you outside into that nice, sizzling sunlight?"

She stared at him for long moments merely blinking. Her mouth made multiple attempts to speak as it moved, but it was clear that Ruby was speechless. "Um... because that'd be really mean?"

Jaune shook his head incredulously. "So would drinking my blood!"

"But I need it to live!" she argued.

"Ever think nature might not want you to live if you're a vampire who can't even feed herself?"

Ruby reacted as if she had been shot. A hand rose to cover her metaphorically wounded heart. "Okay! Now that really is just mean!"

"I'm just saying," he shrugged.

"Well say it less!"

In this moment Ruby was not the terrifying vampire she had made herself out to be. She was merely a pouty and adorable teenage girl who he was bantering with. She could kill him in an instant if she so desired, but there was something about her that made it seem like she was incapable of such an act. Like her earlier actions really were just an act.

"So what now?" he asked.

Ruby moved to sit on his bed a few feet away from him. She sighed again, shaking her head softly before her face fell into her palms. "I don't know," she said, defeat clear in her voice. She pointed over to the window. "I can't leave though. Not while the sun is still up."

"Kind of your fault for being a creep and watching me sleep all night, isn't it?"

Her head whirled around to reveal silver eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Okay, look here... um... hey I never did get your name."

She was right on that. Jaune supposed that a hunter didn't need to know the name of its prey. "Right. It's Jaune."

Ruby nodded forcefully. "Look here, Jaune," she said, emphasizing his name. "Right now you're not helping the situation. Don't you think I feel bad enough as it is?"

That was true. Bloodsucking vampire or not, it was clear that Ruby still did have feelings. Feelings which he was very insensitive to. "You're right," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

She harrumphed, folding her arms across her chest and looked away from him.

"We still have to figure out what we're going to do with you until the sun sets again."

Ruby glanced back over to him. Fangs bit down lightly into her lower lip momentarily. "Got any video games?"

He did. He had plenty of them. Jaune had spent a lifetime collecting and playing them. This would definitely be a first. A girl who wasn't his sister was in his room and wanted to play video games with him. If she hadn't been a vampire, this would be the coolest thing ever!

Jaune stood up and went over to where his TV and console sat, along with a large row of games on the shelf next to it. Just as he was about to browse through them, he stopped and looked back. "You know... I'm still not seeing a reason why I shouldn't just toss you outside. Right now you're still a threat to me and my family."

She smiled sweetly at him, standing up and taking a purposeful step toward him. "You know I don't have to draw blood to snap your neck, right?"

He swallowed hard. "...fair point," he admitted. "B-but then you won't have anyone to get blood for you. Like, willingly I mean. So you don't have to do all the dirty work."

"...fair point."

"So..."

"So..." she echoed.

They had reached an impasse. She couldn't kill him or else she'd go hungry, while he couldn't try to get rid of her or else she would kill him. It was a no-win situation.

"Video games it is then?" he asked.

She nodded excitedly. "So whatcha got?"

He had plenty. Classics from older consoles going back to his earlier childhood. Modern staples of gaming. Mostly things involving fighting or war. As a young boy growing up in a family full of heroes, it was only natural that he would lean toward games full of violence and heroics.

Primal Combat was a game that everyone should experience at least once in their life. He liked Street Warrior less, but it was still a solid choice. Shooters like Silvereye may have been outdated by modern graphics, but Jaune would still argue that it was the best one ever made.

"I'm surprised a vampire plays video games at all," he mentioned casually as he continued to browse.

Ruby scoffed. "I'm a vampire, not a savage."

"Says the girl who drinks blood," he sniped.

"Says the guy who eats animal flesh!" she shot back.

He turned around to see her once more pouting face. "I never thought I'd meet a vegetarian vampire." His head tilted slightly. "Or any vampire period, really."

"I'm not a vegetarian!" she said defensively. "But if you're gonna call me out for drinking blood then I'll call you out for eating animal skin."

"I guess..."

"Good. Now less talking an more video gaming. Preferably something with blood."

Jaune smiled as his hand drifted back toward the left side of his collection. "Of course it would be blood with you."

"It has nothing to do with me being a vampire! All the good games just have blood in them!"

"Fair enough."

In the end Jaune chose Primal Combat. A multiplayer fighting game with plenty of blood and gore. Back in the day it had upset parents so much that later editions had blood removed, or at least locked away by cheat codes. However, Jaune had the version full of all the good stuff. Finishing moves involving tearing people's spines out and setting them on fire. If Ruby liked video games as much as she made it seem, she would appreciate a classic like this.

"Primal Combat sound good?" he asked, holding up the cartridge to her.

Silver eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh yes!" she squealed with excitement. "It's been so long since I've played that one!"

Jaune grabbed the two wired controllers from the shelf underneath the TV and handed one to Ruby. After popping the game in he sat down next to Ruby on the bed and prepared to annihilate the vampire the only way he could. In the pixilated world.

This wasn't fair! The controller must have been broken or something! It was such an old game system that she wouldn't have been surprised if it actually was.

After the game had announced that Jaune had won yet again, Ruby firmly planted the controller onto the mattress next to her. Maybe it was time for a new game. One that Jaune wasn't kicking her butt at. He had plenty to choose from, so there would undoubtedly be something in there that she would be better at than him.

A glance outside showed that the sun was still out. Hours of gaming had helped to pass the time, but as far as Ruby was concerned night couldn't get here soon enough. Then she would be gone, never to see Jaune again.

He set his controller to the side as well before standing up from the bed and stretching his legs. "How does a little break sound?"

"Sounds good," she agreed. It would give her time to peruse his game collection to find something that she had grown up on. Then the tables would be turned. "I'll find the next game."

"Okay. While you do that I'm going to go get something to eat. I'm star...ving..."

The words died in Jaune's mouth as Ruby turned her head to slowly regard him. Her silver-eyed glare held no trace of amusement for his poor choice of words.

He winced, nodding lightly a couple of times to acknowledge his mistake. "Touchy subject?"

Ruby hummed. "That's putting it lightly."

"I'd offer you something to eat, but... you know. If it were that simple we wouldn't be here right now."

"Yeah..."

He was right about that. The simple fact that she hadn't been able to chomp down on his exposed neck the previous night was the entire cause of her plight. Then again, he probably wasn't complaining. After all, he still possessed all of his blood.

"I've got an honest question," he said. "How have you even lived this long if you hate seeing blood?"

"My sister usually shares with me."

"Her blood?"

Ruby shrugged. "Well, someone's blood."

"Wonderful..."

"Yeah, Yang's pretty great," she confirmed. Ruby knew that Jaune was being sarcastic, but it didn't change the fact that Yang was indeed a caring and wonderful older sister.

"Okay, well that just brings me to my next question."

He certainly was full of them, but it wasn't like they had much else to do but play a game of twenty questions. One way or another they would be playing some game to pass the time.

"Go for it."

"If your sister usually helps you then why are you out here doing it on your own?" He pointed to himself. "And why me?"

Ruby glanced down at the hands folded on her lap. "Yang said I needed to learn to do it on my own," she explained. "And she wouldn't always be there to help me whenever I was hungry."

It really was embarrassing, because what Jaune said was right. She was a vampire who could not feed herself. If not for her older sister she might already have died of starvation. Or at least she would have fed so infrequently that she would be weak and vulnerable to anyone who may have wanted to harm her.

Jaune shrugged, looking to the window as he spoke. "I mean, that's good, right?" he asked. "Typical older sibling behavior. Trying to get you to do things on your own so you'll be better off."

"Yeah, I know," Ruby grumbled. "But still, look where it's gotten me."

He shrugged again. "Are you at least kind of having fun?"

Ruby's head shot up to look at him. The tone in his voice had sounded a little bit sad. "What?"

"I know it's not perfect, but I hope you're at least having a little bit of fun with the gaming. I'd be a pretty bad host if I couldn't even entertain you with my selection of games."

She shot up, as if standing would give what she was about to say more authority. "No no, it's not you. Not at all. The games are awesome! I haven't played this many retro game since... well, since they weren't considered retro yet! I'm just... I don't know. I'm hungry, that's all. It's been a long time since I've drank any blood..."

The question Ruby hadn't answered before was why she had chosen Jaune. The answer was out of desperation. She had gone a long time trying to put off finding someone to drink from. His home, his room, he had just been the first one she had come across when she finally decided to attempt drinking blood straight from the source.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. The words seemed genuine too.

"Yeah. Me too."

"I'll, um, I'll be right back, okay?" he told her. "Just gotta run to the kitchen for a few minutes."

She nodded. At least one of them should be able to eat. There was no reason to deny him that simple pleasure just because she couldn't.

Jaune left his room and closed the door behind him, leaving Ruby alone. She looked around, seeing the inside in the daylight for the first time in detail.

So this was a boy's room. All in all it wasn't anything spectacular. It was cleaner than she would have expected. No dirty laundry scattered all over the floor as movies and TV liked to portray. Aside from the video games, a few action figures stood on wall-mounted shelves. It was pretty obvious that Jaune was kind of a dork. That was fine. She was one too.

A large poster from the Spruce Willis movie 'Kill Hard' hung prominently on one of the walls. At least he had good taste.

Good taste...

Speaking of tasting good, Ruby was happy that she hadn't killed Jaune. He was pretty cool. Pretty fun too. It seemed like they had a lot in common, and he was a good enough gamer to challenge her. Most importantly, despite the circumstances of their meeting he was treating her fairly normally. Friendly, even.

Glancing around, Ruby wondered if since he was a boy if he had any dirty magazines hidden somewhere. She then wondered if people even used dirty magazines anymore with the CCTNet being available. She knew he was into the classics, but that kind of classic media seemed like a stretch.

Any snooping around she might have done was ended before it could even begin, as the door opened once more to reveal the familiar blond boy. He held a bag of cookies in one hand, and a glass of what looked to be strawberry milk in the other.

He set the bag down on the bed before holding the glass out to her. "For you."

Ruby's eyebrows scrunched slightly as she reached out to take it. "What is it?"

"Uh... well... let's just say I had a little knife accident in the kitchen when I was getting food," he said. "So... I figured that the blood might as well not go to waste, right?"

Ruby looked down at the glass, and moved it closer to her nose to give it a sniff. Sure enough, there was a familiar metallic scent to it. Silver eyed shifted to once more regard Jaune. "Accident you say?" she asked while looking at the bag of cookies. "From that?"

Jaune shrugged lightly. "Look, it wouldn't have been fair for me to just eat in front of you. So..." He held up his hand, presenting a band-aid on his left index finger for her to see. "Yeah..."

The vampire leapt to her feet and closed the short distance over to him. Grabbing hold of his hand, she saw that there was an adorable little cartoon bunny on the bandage. A wide, happy grin was plastered on her lips as her eyes moved from it to his face. "Jaune... you didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, well, what's done is done. So drink up. I hope it tastes good. I figured that just pure blood in a glass might make you queasy, so I mixed it with milk. Is that okay?"

"Yes!" she said excitedly before bringing the glass up to her lips. There wasn't much there, but it was better than nothing. After more than a day of not having any blood, the small amount in the glass was one of the sweetest things she had ever tasted.

Ruby gulped it down in a matter of seconds, and an impressive burp followed shortly afterward. She looked away embarrassedly after it sounded, and a peek at Jaune's face told her that he didn't seem to mind. In fact, quite the opposite.

"You really are a vampire, aren't you?"

She wondered why he asked that question now. Like all she had said before was a lie, and only now after seeing her drink his blood did he believe her. Well, she could show him even more proof if he needed it!

"Yep, see?" She grabbed his hand and placed it against her chest where her heart was. "No pulse. Pretty cool, isn't it?"

The wide-eyed expression on his face told her that he was absolutely blown away by the fact that she had no heartbeat in her chest.

"Y-yeah," he said nervously. It was an adorable reaction. "Pulse..."

"Yep! No pulse, drinks blood. Really good blood, by the way."

"Glad you liked it," he said as he sat down next to her and opened the cookies. He reached in and grabbed one before biting down on it. If only eating was that simple for her.

"Thank you," she said softly. Genuinely. "Now that I have some food in me I'm gonna kick your butt in whatever we play next!"

"Oh really?" he laughed. "Is that what it is?"

"Mmhmm! You just got lucky! The only reason I'm doing as bad as I am is because I'm starving!"

He grabbed hold of his controller. "Great, is this gonna be one of those 'you haven't fought me at my full power' speeches?"

"Don't compare me to Mistrali cartoons!" Ruby squawked. "I'm serious! You try being at your best when you're hungry!"

Jaune had an annoying smirk on his face as he nodded to her. "Honestly I thought you were cosplaying as some Mistrali cartoon character with that outfit..."

Ruby gasped, looking down at her totally awesome combat skirt and corset. What was wrong with her outfit? It was cool! As was her totally stylish red hooded cloak which would help shield her from the sunlight if need be! "What's wrong with my clothes?"

"Nothing," he managed to say while holding back a laugh. "Nothing at all. Are they, uh, vampire clothes?"

"They're normal clothes! I just like them, okay?"

"Okay, okay!" he insisted. His hands were raised again in his defense. "I'm sorry!"

She growled softly, unconvinced that his apology was genuine. The big meanie. Dummy. How dare he talk bad about her clothes when he wore a hoodie and blue jeans. Could you get any more boring and generic? Nope! Jaune had no sense of fashion at all!

However, clothes soon took a backseat on her list of concerns. Her throat wasn't the only thing that growled.

Maybe it was the taste of blood that did it, but Ruby's hunger had fully woke now. Her stomach growled as ferociously as a Beowolf, and there was still no food in sight. Well, no food easily available to her considering her predicament...

The redhead clutched her sides, a tiny whimper slipping through her lips as she did. The action and the sound caused Jaune to regard her with concern. "Still hungry?"

She nodded pathetically. "Yes. I'm afraid that giving me a taste of your blood may have only made things worse..."

Jaune took a look outside before reaching over to his scroll and checking the time. "Still have a few hours until sunset..."

Ruby nodded again. It would be an agonizing few hours.

The pair sat in silence for long seconds, the earlier levity of their conversations gone in an instant. Pain and hunger were never easy to make light of. Especially when it was amongst friends.

Friends. When did that even happen?

"Ruby," Jaune said softly. Deliberately.

She glanced up at him to see hard blue eyes staring at her. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to kill me?"

Silver eyes widened. "W-what? No! Of course not!"

It wasn't just idle talk either. She truly did consider the boy a friend now. Spending the majority of the day playing video games and talking random nonsense with Jaune had done the trick. Had she not been a vampire, she could have seen the two of them getting along famously in any other environment. They just clicked. Even after everything from the morning, all the threats and insults, it had all been brushed under the rug. All was forgotten. Only a pair of teenagers remained.

He nodded in understanding. "Then... you should drink from me. You're going to have to do it from someone, right?" She nodded silently to him, prompting him to continue. "Then you should do it from someone you know you won't kill."

Had she had a heartbeat, it would have been pounding in her chest. What he was suggesting was so bizarre she could hardly believe it. He, a human, was willingly asking her to take his blood. Not out of some weird fetish or desire to become a vampire himself, but because he cared for her. He cared for her. Enough to slice his own finger to try and alleviate her pain. Enough to willingly ask her to drink from him.

"Jaune, if it were that easy I wouldn't-"

She was cut short when Jaune took her hand and pressed it against his neck. His soft, warm, pulsating neck. Ruby's tongue ran across her lips without even thinking about it as she felt his rapid heartbeat.

"It's so close, yet so out of reach..." she whispered. "Like freshly made cookies behind the glass at the bakery counter..."

"You said you needed to learn to do it on your own," he said softly, inching closer to her on the bed. "So... why not practice on a friend?"

Friend. He had just said the word aloud himself. It wasn't just in her imagination anymore. They were friends. They really were. She was indeed lucky that her heart did not beat, otherwise it would have burst in her chest that very moment.

Her fingers were shaking as she moved closer to him. To his neck. "Okay..." she said. "B-but I'm kinda new to this, okay?"

"That's fine. We have time until sunset anyway."

That they did. Plenty of time to practice. Practice putting her lips on a boy while sitting on his bed. Yeah, sure, there weren't dirty connotations behind this whole situation at all. Had she not been a vampire the idea of being propositioned to suck on a boy's neck in his room would have made her face turn red as her cloak.

Taking a deep breath Ruby turned and tilted her head to get the best angle at her neck. Her lips pressed down against his soft flesh.

For long seconds she sucked, trying to get the best grip possible she could on it. Soft gasps came from Jaune's mouth, and they were not helping out in making the situation seem any less intimate than it already was. It sounded like he was getting turned on from her biting him! Was she doing something wrong?

"Ruby, you're not even breaking the skin," he said. "You're just giving me a hickey."

Apparently so.

"Oh, um, whoops," she said as she pulled back. "Sorry."

"It's... okay..." he said quietly.

Wait, did he mean it was okay that she had screwed up? Or okay that she had given him a hickey?

Stupid vampire teenage hormones! Why couldn't those have gone away too?

Ruby moved in again, redoubling her efforts at doing it right. Fangs flashed, and this time she succeeded in sinking them into the delicious skin of his neck. A louder, more pained gasp escaped his lips this time, telling her that she had done it correctly.

Don't focus on the blood, her mind told her. Don't look at the blood. Don't think about the blood. Just close your eyes and do it.

It was delicious. Fresh from the source. Not in a blood pack or mixed in food or drink like Yang might have given her. It was sweet. Satisfying. Nourishing. And in her state of hunger, she lost herself in the taste of it.

"Ruby."

Forget his voice. She was doing it! She was actually drinking from a human! No reason to stop now and screw it up when she was finally succeeding!

"Ruby..."

The voice was fainter this time. Weaker. But she was almost done. Her hunger was nearly sated. Just a little longer...

Ruby tore herself away from his neck with a satisfied exhalation. That had really hit the spot. She finally felt full. She felt strong. Vibrant. Like she could take on the world. Like she could take on Jaune in any game he chose. Look out, blond boy! Ruby Bloodrose was back in the game!

She turned back to him. "Thanks, Jaune. I really owe ya for..."

The boy slumped over onto his bed.

Ruby gasped. She grabbed hold of his body, pulling him back up into a sitting position. "Jaune?" she whispered. "Jaune!" She began to shake his body. "Wake up! Come on! Wake up!" He wasn't waking up. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no..."

Her fingers moved to his wrist. He still had a pulse. That was good. Maybe she had just gone overboard? Had she taken too much blood? Was that why he passed out?

She grabbed hold of his body, hugging him tightly. "Stay with me," she whispered into his golden locks. "You can't die. I still have to beat you..."

Truth be told, if he survived this then video games would be the least of her concerns. Ruby just wanted him to live. He was her friend. And after what he had done for her, he was in fact so much more than that...

Eyelids fluttered open to reveal a familiar ceiling. A familiar room. But a very unfamiliar pillow.

Jaune stirred and tried to move but found himself unable to do so. A pair of powerful arms were wrapped around his chest, preventing him from doing so. Looking over to the side, he saw the familiar black-clad stomach of the vampire known as Ruby Rose.

"Don't move so much," she whispered to him. "You're probably still weak."

He followed her orders, and rested his head back down in her lap. "What happened?"

"I..." she said hesitantly. "I may have gone a little overboard with the blood. I may have drank so much that you passed out from blood loss..."

Jaune blinked a few times. "Oh."

He felt fingers gently stroke his hair. It felt nice. Her lap felt nice. Maybe it was just because he was in a weakened state. Or maybe her soft body really did just feel nice. Right now he didn't care about the reason why. It was a pleasant and comfortable lap.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"A while." She paused momentarily. "All night."

"All night? Wait, what time is it?" He turned his head to see that the morning sun was peeking through the window.

He then looked up at Ruby, who smiled warmly at him. "I dunno. Morning."

"You stayed with me all night? When you could have left?"

She shrugged. "Yep."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Dummy," she laughed. "After what you did for me, I'm the one who should be thanking you. Staying and looking after you was the least I could do..."

Memories started to filter back into Jaune's mind. The feel of her teeth on his neck. Of getting the blood sucked out of him. Of slowly losing consciousness as her mouth was locked onto his neck. Apparently he had been out for hours, and all the while she had sat by his side. She had laid his head in her lap as she watched over him to make sure he lived.

"You took care of me in my time of need," she continued. "So... I should do the same, right?"

Jaune chuckled softly. "I guess that makes sense."

"Good." She reached over to grab something, not seeing what it was until it was literally in his face. "Here," she said, presenting him with a cookie. The same cookies he had brought for a snack earlier. "Eat. It'll help you recover."

Jaune took a bite of the cookie she held for him. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined lying in the lap of a pretty girl being fed by her.

"Thanks," he said after swallowing.

A light slap hit his shoulder. "Stop thanking me! I nearly killed you!"

Guilt. It was evident in her voice. For all her big talk earlier, Ruby seemed absolutely harmless. Like there was no way she would have ever followed through on any of her threats. The girl had a lot of bark and no bite.

Well, maybe just a little bite.

"But you didn't," he reminded her. "And you took care of me. You're still taking care of me."

"Yeah, well... it's not so bad."

No. It really wasn't. Here in this moment, her lap was the most comfortable place in the world.

"I thought of trying to feed you while you were unconscious," she said, looking away from him as she did. "Because you couldn't feed yourself."

"How would you feed me while I was unconscious?" he asked.

Ruby swallowed hard. "Um... by chewing for you. And... um, feeding you lip to lip..."

Oh.

Jaune had no idea if such a thing could even work. With his luck he probably would have just suffocated on the food while unconscious. He was glad she didn't try it.

"Probably best you didn't," he agreed.

"Yep. And you turned out fine. I'm... I'm really glad you're okay, Jaune."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Jaune."

His eyes looked up at her. "Hmm?"

Her face came down to his. Her lips pressed against his. Not in a bite. Not in a weird attempt to feed him. Simply in a completely normal kiss.

It lasted only a couple of seconds before she pulled away. Her tongue ran across her lips after they parted. Embarrassment was clear on her face.

"That's how vampires say thank you," she said softly. "Because, uh, we're big on using our mouths for things. We use our mouths for everything."

Jaune blinked several times. "Is that true?"

Ruby's body shifted uncomfortably. "Uh... maybe."

In other words, no. She had just wanted to kiss him. He wasn't about to complain about that.

"You should thank me again later," he said boldly. Her silver eyes regarded him in shock. Shock, but not disgust. Not disagreement. Not protest.

A tiny smile curled onto her mouth. "Y-yeah," she agreed. "Maybe I should."

"But for right now, I'm still a little tired. I think I wanna stay here like this."

He felt her hand stroke his hair again. "Yeah. You should probably spend a little more time recovering. I'll... I'll be here all day, after all."

She sure would. With the dawn of a new day upon them, they had all day to spend together again.

Maybe there would be more activities besides video games today.

Author's Note: Another little idea inspired by the Discord server. My thanks go out to everyone there who helped make this story a reality.

As much as I love Weiss and White Knight, Ruby is such a super fun character to write for. She's probably my favorite to write. In fact, if you liked this, you should totally check out my new fic, My Abominable Monster Classmates Can't Be This Cute! Plenty of Ruby in that!

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.