Bonding ch. 1

-I Hate You-





“Hmm…B7,” Yang guesses,

“Miss,” Ruby responds, earning a grunt in return, “…E…2?”

“Dammit!”

“Hahaha! I told you, Ms. Doubtfire! You! Can’t! Beat me! I’m the best! I am the very powerful! Witness the true greatness shining upon you!”

The two sisters share a laugh after the display of dumbassery from the young girl.

“Oh, calm down, Ms. Braggart,” Yang replies, cleaning up the game, “You won a couple of board games. So what? Any joe schmoe could get lucky twice.”

“Uh huh. Keep finding different ways of coping with the fact that you’re getting your butt kicked by your little sister.”

“Alright, big shot. Gloves are off now. Which game’s next?”

Ruby takes a moment to think of her options, but she’s soon interrupted as her father suddenly swoops her up in the air, causing her to squeal in joy as he turns her about before setting her down on her feet and kneeling down to her level.

“I’ve got a game for ya,” he says, looking her in the eyes and poking her nose, “It’s single player, though. So Yang can’t join in, unfortunately. It’s called ‘brush your teeth and head on up to bed’. Patent pending.”

“Awww.”

“I know, I know. But you’ve already been up half an hour past your bedtime. You’ve gotta go to bed at some point, Rubes.”

“5 more minutes?”

“In another lifetime maybe.”

“Pleeease?”

“Ruby.”

Yang chuckles at the back and forth before deciding to go with ol’ reliable.

“Don’t worry, Ruby. Tomorrow’s gonna be much better anyways. We’ll get to play more with more time in our arsonal?”

“Yaaay!” Ruby rejoices with Tai turning to her with a feigned look of disapproval of the plan,

“And how do you plan to make good on that promise, young lady?”

“Come on, she’s a kid,” Yang replies, “She’s gotta have some fun.”

“You’re half right. She’s still a kid. So she needs to be in bed at the appropriate time or everything falls out of whack.”

“Ok, ok, how’s about this: we play three quarters past her bedtime.”

“…Ten minutes.”

“Two and a half quarters.”

“Twelve minutes and you only do half the dishes from now on.”

“Two quarters and I take care of dinner every visit.”

“…Alright, deal.”

Ruby rejoices from the compromise, not knowing that that’s practically the same deal that they’ve had for the past few months.

“Ok, but that’s tomorrow. This is tonight.”



“Ok, ok.”

Ruby then latches onto Yang’s waist, embracing her in a warm hug, which Yang reciprocates. She then ruffles her little sister’s hair before poking her sides, earning cute giggles in response.

“Alright, see ya tomorrow, sis. Don’t destroy the place while I’m gone.”

“No promises,” Ruby replies with a grin,

“Guess that’s all I’m gonna get. Whatever. Shoo, ya little rascal.”

Yang scoots the girl away with her giggling in response before heading upstairs to her bathroom, leaving Tai and Yang to their own conversation.

“Ok, serious time,” Tai says, turning to his daughter and folding his arms, “Are you ok?”

“I’m good. Honest. This stopped meaning as much as it did after the first visit. Her smile does a lot, y’know?”

“Yeah. I know what you mean there. But I just wanna make sure. If…she’s making you uncomfortable in any way-…”

“Dad, I’m fine. I swear. Just a matter of getting her off my ass at times.”

“Yuuup. And speaking of which-…”

He pulls out his phone, looking at the time. He then recoils as he receives his answer.

“9:38. That’s gonna be a fun conversation at this time of night.