fallen petals, Ruby comes out as trans to Cinder, only for Cinder to admit that she's also trans.
Cinder slammed her sword into Ruby’s scythe and glared at her. With a quick movement, she disarmed the younger woman and pushed the tip of the sword to her chest. “That’s a point for me.”
“Only because I lost my balance,” Ruby said as she moved Cinder’s sword away and stood up. “And I let you win.”
“Let me win? Bold talk from you.”
“You know I can beat you!” “Only in your dreams.” Ruby grabbed her scythe and took a deep breath. She hid a wince and readied herself. “Once more.”
Cinder sighed and put her sword away. “Not if you’re hurt.”
“I’m not hurt-”
“You winced and you’ve looked stiff all day. And dont think I havent noticed the way you’ve been messing with your chest and checking yourself over. Did you get hurt again?”
“N-no, its not that… I…” Ruby sighed and folded her scythe to sheathe it. “Can… can we talk somewhere else? Its… its a bit… embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?” Cinder nodded and took Ruby’s hand. “My place and some sweets from the cafe?”
“Y-yeah, that works.”
“Then lets start going, but you have to tell me everything.”
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruby picked at the cake on her plate with her fork and moved a couple pieces around as she sat quietly. She never thought she’d actually start talking about herself like this with anyone besides her team… ex-teammates. Her heart pounded as she tried to put her words together, unaware of how long she had been silent.
“So, what exactly is so embarrassing that you wanted us to be alone to talk about it?” Cinder asked as she sat her empty plate down next to her. “Its not like you to be this reserved.”
Ruby sat her own plate down, closed her eyes, and finally spoke. “I… I’ve been… trying to figure myself out lately and I… I think I’m… I think I’m a guy.”
“You… think you’re a guy?”
“Y-yeah… I…” Ruby adjusted her shirt to show the binder she wore… and the red marks around it from how tight it was. “So I’ve been doing what I can to try to figure that out. I’ve been binding for the last couple weeks and playing around with calling myself a guy.”
“Well first, if you’re going to bind, you need a binder that’s actually going to fit.” Cinder stood up and grabbed her sewing supplies. “And second, no thinking, only knowing. If you think you’re a guy, you’re a guy until you decide otherwise. Or maybe somewhere between for now. But the longer you’re hesitant about yourself, the more it’s going to show.”
“And… you know all of this… how?”
“Why do you think? I’m trans too.” Cinder started to search through her fabric box and found something that would match Ruby’s binder. She quickly went behind the girl, moved her shirt out of the way, and cut through the back of the binder to start making it a bit larger for her. “Now, this is only going to hold for a few days, so we’ll want to get you something better tomorrow.”
“Y-you’re trans too? But you… you uh… you dont exactly…”
“Look trans?” Cinder paused with her stitching and tightened the thread before starting up again. “I got lucky to transition when I was much younger. I had… some help from someone who understood what it was like to be shunned for being different. I’m sure she could help you.”
“I… I think I can do this on my own.” Ruby winced as the needle poked her. “Well, mostly on my own.”
“And how did your… teammates take it?”
“T-they… they took it well… ish.”
“And yet, they still abandoned you.”
Ruby winced at the words. “T-they… they didnt abandon me. They just… we fell… out, you know?” She sighed and leaned forward for Cinder. “We graduated and… you know, Blake disappeared on us, Weiss had her own responsibilities and Yang… she went to find her mother.”
“...maybe its time for you to come with me. I know someone that can help you with all of this.”
“I cant, not while I’m still working with Ozpin on a few missions.”
Cinder nodded and finished sewing up the binder. “Well, if you ever change your mind, you know how to reach me.”