Oscar Dorothy’s typical day at the bed and breakfast.
“Dorothy! Dorothy! Wake up!” an oh-so-familiar voice called. Oscar, startled woke up.
“Wait... Dorothy?” His name wasn’t Dorothy. He looked at his bed, at his surroundings. He... he wasn’t in Argus, either! He was in the loft of his barn... he was home. Home? How did he get home?
“Oz, what’s going on?” Oscar murmured. The headmaster didn’t reply, and it occurred to Oscar that if he was back home then maybe he wasn’t possessed.
“Is this a flashback? Before Ozpin?” he muttered to himself.
Perhaps so. Either he had been knocked out for some reason or he had fallen asleep.
“Dorothy!! The guests will be up any minute! Come help me serve breakfast!” He realized immediately that his aunt was calling for him... or Dorothy.
“Who the heck is Dorothy? What guests?” Oscar grumbled to himself, shoving himself out of bed. When he walked over to the mirror, he realized he was in pajamas he had never owned in his life. They were white and blue checkered. He had on bright red slippers, quite fuzzy.
“Dorothy Oscar Pine, if I have to march upstairs and get you, I will pull you by the ear!”
Oscar hoped and prayed as he zipped down the loft that his mother had not named him Dorothy and everyone not was just calling him by his middle name.
He met his aunt downstairs, and she looked... younger... and more cheerful. Her brown hair was wrapped in a bun and her face held more vigor and color. Oscar wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with himself.
“Dorothy, why are you still in your pajamas?” His aunt huffed, exasperated.
“Hurry up and meet me in the kitchen.”
Oscar nodded and headed back the stairs, where he dug into his drawer, in search of clothing. Strangely enough, there was only checkered shirts and jeans. He wasn’t sure what was happening with the white and blue pattern but when did he own a pair of jeans?
“This dream is incredibly strange.” Nevertheless, he changed into his clothing. If it was a dream, he was bound to wake up any moment, right? It was best for him to stay under control and go with the flow.
After changing into his clothing, he headed out of the barn and towards the familiar farm house that he called home. Except, it wasn’t so familiar. His old, yellowing home was now twice as big and painted in a bright yellow pattern. The roof looked good as new and the home looked like it house a hundred people!
“Woweeee, we must be rich,” Oscar whistled impressively. He cracked his knuckles before entering the huge house. It was quite silent, but very prettily furnished. Paintings hung on the walls and plants and knick-knacks were laid out in every corner. Oscar almost lost his way to the kitchen, but he managed to find it. He simply followed the smell of frying eggs.
When he entered the kitchen, he was greeted by his aunt, and a strange man.
He knew this man very well. But his quite difficult to believe he was standing in front of him. Why would someone dead be standing in front of him?
“I—Uncle Henry? Oscar gasped, his mind spinning. In front of him was his uncle, the man who had died of pneumonia when he was about 8 years old. Here he was, looking rejuvenated and lively. His beard was trimmed and his warm eyes still looked the same as it did years ago.
“Yes... good morning to you, Dorothy,” Uncle Henry snickered. He reached over to the boy in shock and patted him on the back.
Oscar shook out of his daze. Okay. He could pretend it wasn’t weird to see his dead uncle. “Could you guys call me Oscar? I prefer it... to Dorothy.”
“Really? You had no problem with it until now. When we told you your folks named you Dorothy becuase they wanted you to be a girl, you didn’t mind at all,” his aunt shrugged. Oscar was trying to wrap his head around why his parents would ever name him Dorothy, even if he was supposed to be a girl. It didn’t matter, he reassured himself. It’s just a name. And this was just a dream.
His thoughts scattered, Oscar went to his aunt and helped her make pancakes on the griddle. His aunt and uncle chatted lively, and even Oscar got in on the conversations. It turned out, he missed this. He missed his family, and he missed his farm.
“According to the weather report, there’s a twister coming in any day from now,” his uncle sighed. “We have to tell the guests.”
“Oh, have some faith, Henry. I told you there is no twister coming so you have to believe me. My gut never lies!”
“Well, this handy device that came out—a scroll—told me there is a twister coming! You never listen to me, lady! Dor—Oscar, tell your aunt she’s crazy.”
Odcar giggled at the bickering, and continued flipping pancakes. He let the sweet smell of butter and berries engulf him as he continued his duty.
“Ung...good morning Miss Em. Good morning Mr. Henry. You too, Dorothy,” a sleepy voice came from the hall.
Oscar knew this voice. Without a doubt.
“Good morning, Red. And actually, he prefers to go by Oscar now,” he heard his uncle chuckle.
Red? Oscar slowly turned his head to see Ruby, decked out in her usual red cape and very un-Ruby-like dress.
Oscar could feel his face turning red as he turned his attention away from this Red, and back to the pancakes.
“Oh, well good morning, Oscar. What you’re making smells good.”
Oscar nodded with a “Mhm” becuase he was too afraid of spewing nonsense. The girl he was hopelessly in love with was also in his dream?
“Is your sister awake, Red?”
Red shrugged. “I’m not sure. Goldie likes to sleep a lot. She and Belle aren’t exactly early birds.”
There was a strange feeling growing in Oscar’s chest as he poured a spoonful of batter onto the griddle.
“I’m gonna go get them up. I’ll talk to you later, okay, Oscar?” Red called from her spot.
Oscar threw a thumbs up before returning to his pancakes. He could feel the sweat on his palms as he faced his aunt and uncle.
“You are such a strange boy. After all these months, you’re still shy.”
“Uh, what?” Oscar asked, his blush deepening. His aunt smiled knowingly.
“After this batch, go set the table. We’ll eat breakfast and then you get the rest of the day off. How does that sound?” she asked. Oscar didn’t know what else to do, so he nodded.
After finishing the pancakes, he went to set the dining table. It was long and could seat up to about 20 people. Oscar thought about how Red was similar to Ruby, and how everyone he cared about was in a strange dream together.
“Morning,” a voice murmured behind him. Oscar jumped, turning around to see Ren in front of him. He still wore his long green hair but his clothing looked much more traditional, as if he was some emperor. It occurred to Oscar that Ren might not be “Ren” in his dream.
“Uh... good morning. Breakfast his almost ready. You... you can sit here!” Oscar smiled, pulling out a chair. Maybe-Ren sat down in the chair with a nod. Oscar heard loud footsteps from the stairs and looked up to see what he thought to be Nora and Jaune, followed by Red and who appeared to be Weiss, Yang and Blake.
“Hey, Red told me you want to be called Oscar,” Yang said. She looked so unlike herself, her muscular build was strange with the dress she wore. Her hair was in wild curls and in short, she looked a bit of out of place. But so did everyone else. Jaune was in full armor as well as Nora, except Nora was wearing fur. Oscar glanced at Blake who wore a simple blue and white dress and Weiss, whose hair was cut short. He had never been more confused in his life.
“You’re Goldie,” he murmured to himself, eyeing Yang. He could tell becuase of her hair. So perhaps Belle was Blake.
Oscar, thinking of his theory, went back inside the kitchen and brought out the food. He guessed the only guests were the 7 outside. His aunt and uncle sat down and Oscar did too, next to Red.
“Good morning everyone, I hope you slept well,” Aunt Em smiled. Everyone murmured good mornings to one another before serving herself. Red beamed at Oscar before spooning fresh fruit into her plates.
“Hey, you wanna go walk Toto with me after breakfast? It’ll give us a chance to be alone,” she whispered into his ear. Oscar, a bit alarmed, gave himself a moment before nodding.
“You two planning to go on a date?” Nora teased.
“No!” Oscar yelled. Everyone, including Red, turned to face him. She looked a bit hurt.
“We are. I mean usually couples go on dates with each other,” Red snorted, shoving a sliced strawberry into her mouth. Oscar watched her, trying to process the words that just left her mouth. A couple?
Way to go, Oscar. You have a dream about Ruby where she’s your girlfriend. Not only is that impossible, it’s incredibly stupid.
Everyone focused on their plates and began to eat. Oscar avoided eye contact with Red the entire time and bolted from the dining room as soon as he was done clearing the table.
He sat on the porch with sweaty palms, waiting for Ruby to appear. He was hoping that he would wake up before that happened, even trying to pinch himself, but no such luck.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Red’s voice appeared behind him. Oscar heard panting and a jingle which meant the dog was with her too. He stood up and gave a nervous smile. Looking down at her dog, he saw that he looked exactly like Red’s dog, Zwei. She had shown him a picture of the beloved pet once.
“Uh, yeah, yeah.” Oscar offered to take Toto’s leash, but Red claimed she was fine. They started to walk. Side by side, Oscar felt strange next to the older girl. Somehow, in his dream, he and Red/Ruby were the same height, instead of him being a good four inches shorter than her.
Stop this fantasy now, Oscar. It’s time to wake up.
He tried pinching himself again, only for a red mark to be left behind on his skin. He tried to focus on the rising sun ahead of them, rather than the vast silence that had overtaken them both. He focused on the small purple flowers that grew near the creek or the roots that grew out of the yellow bricks in the road. Smells, he tried to focus on that too. The smell of home... the smell of something that made sense to him. Not magic and wizards and evil sorceresses. Just the farm.
“Oscar?” Red piped up all of a sudden.
“Hm?” Oscar replied, feeling a bit sheepish.
“You don’t want to break up with me, do you?” Red asked. Oscar turned to look at her, only to see her face was serious.
“No... no, I don’t. I’m just a little out of it today,” he promised. Even if it was a dream, he wasn’t in the mood to make Ruby cry. Red’s face reddened a little, as if she was embarrassed.
“I dunno. I mean... maybe it was a mistake. Asking you out. I’m not sure... if you felt forced into being with me,” she drawled out.
Whoa. She had asked him out? That changed a lot of things.
“No, no, Red... I really do like you. I was just a bit tired this morning and I promise I’ve never felt forced into this relationship.” Before continuing, he sucked in some air and grabbed Red’s free hand.
“I do like you. I swear. You’re beautiful and amazing and smart and all the things that make me feel happy,” he said. His feelings were honest, at least. He felt these feelings for Ruby in real life and he loved her. Even if those feelings weren’t reciprocated. But that was okay. He would be patient, and even if it never happened, he would still be okay.
“Really?” Ruby stopped walking and gazed at him, her eyes sparkling. Oscar figured his dreams were a tad bit too indulgent, but what the heck. If it was a dream, then it wasn’t real right?
Toto panted and ran around in mini circles. Oscar took what was probably his 6th deep breath of the day and he leaned into Ruby, pressing his lips onto hers.
Several thoughts ran through his head.
First, he had never kissed anyone in his life, so he was quite inexperienced.
Second, he was kissing Ruby.
Third, he was kissing Ruby.
And fourth, his heart was probably beating at 700 miles a second and suddenly, he was getting very, very warm.
Some time in the middle of this fantastical kiss, Oscar felt himself floating further and further away from Ruby. It was like everything around him was fading to grey. He was still there, and he could see a flickering image of him kissing Ruby, but it was like he was out of his own body, watching himself.
“...He’s full-on making-out with it.”
“This must be some dream.”
Oscar felt a sudden sense of dread when he woke up in his own bed, team RWBY, JNPR, Qrow and Maria watching him. And he was smooching his pillow.
“I can explain,” he looked around, embarasssed. He couldn’t even meet Ruby’s eyes, but he already knew she was laughing her head off. Why did he let himself get caught kissing his pillow? Who kissed their pillow?
“Don’t worry, Oscar, this happens to everyone,” Ruby snickered. Qrow burst into laughter, waving his scroll. “I got it on video. I dunno who you’ve been hanging around, but the only person who’s done this I’ve known is your old man, kid.” Qrow replied to Ruby.
Ruby shrieked even louder and Oscar was even redder. Ozpin chewed him out mentally for letting himself be caught in that situation. Needless to say, he always had an... active imagination. But he didn’t need to worry. The good news was that the only person who knew what happened in the dream was himself!
