I.
Watching Weiss blush was one of Ruby's favorite things. Especially when she was the reason Weiss was blushing.
The fifteen year old girl had first realized this when the two were practicing alone. Ruby had been getting over a small concussion... or, more accurately, pretending she wasn't supposed to be taking it easy, to her partner's disapproval. That's what she blamed it on when she tripped, neatly as a person could trip, and landed in Weiss's arms. Ruby blinked. Myrtenaster, Weiss's beloved Myrtenaster, lay forgotten on the floor.
Weiss supported the younger girl with both arms, helping her regain her footing. As Ruby straightened, the pale woman blushed.
Ruby felt herself grin. Weiss must have seen it too, as she frowned, her cheeks fading back to a normal color. "I told you that you shouldn't be here. What if someone was watching? Even if practice can't affect our scores, we can still lose some serious credibility!"
"Relax, Weiss," she'd said. "They'd probably compliment you for your reflexes."
"Not funny, Ruby. This is no time for jokes. If you're going to be here at least take it seriously!"
"I am taking it seriously! I really thought that was a good catch!" Ruby took a step backwards defensively, and Weiss grabbed her, pulling the younger girl close. The deep redhead gasped at the contact and looked her partner directly in the eyes, searching for some explanation.
Weiss stared Ruby down for only a millisecond before seemingly realizing what her actions looked like. Quickly, she removed her hands, letting Ruby stand on her own. "You were about to step on Myrtenaster, idiot," she muttered. "Watch where you're going."
Still, despite her words, she was blushing as she scooped up her weapon, sheathing it easily. "I'm finished for today," the pale woman announced. "I'd recommend that you finish as well. If we're to actually get anywhere as a team, you need to recover."
Ruby grinned again. "Sure thing," she promised, watching the older woman exit the room.
II.
After that, it became a game almost, a game with one goal- catch Weiss blushing. Like any game, the longer she played it, the easier it became.
Sometimes a blush would come from physical contact, as it had originally. Weiss blushed when the two, fighting next to each other but not necessarily with each other, ended up pressed side-to-side as monsters attacked from three directions. Ruby might have missed that one, faint as it was, had her senses not been boosted with the adrenaline of battle.
Weiss blushed when Ruby, talking animatedly, accidentally touched one of the white-haired girl's breasts.
Weiss blushed harder when her own hand touched one of Ruby's breasts accidentally. Definitely accidentally, she informed Ruby several times... as Weiss reached for her partner's cape, her aim was ruined when Ruby fidgeted at the last minute.
That might have been when Ruby started to do things on purpose.
After a particularly hard test, she grabbed her partner's... no, her friend's... hands, and entwined her own fingers through paler ones. "We did it!" she said with a smile.
"Well, obviously," Weiss huffed. "I wasn't setting us up for failure, you do realize that?"
"Hey, it was tough out there. I'm allowed to celebrate." She let go of Weiss's hands and pulled her friend in for a hug, wrapping her arms around the heiress's body tightly. "Wanna go back to the room and celebrate some more there?"
"Excuse me?" Weiss shrieked, her cheeks tinging pink.
Ruby smirked and laughed. "Relax, princess, I just meant we could get some snack food and stay up all night... like a sleepover, you know?"
"You're so childish!" Her cheeks began to settle back into a normal color.
"I dunno, I kinda think I'm mature for my age. I bet I could prove it to you?"
Weiss started blushing fiercely all over again, and Ruby giggled. Being able to make Weiss blush with words alone was madly entertaining. Especially when the words really weren't that far from innocent, not really that far at all. Your head had to be stuck fairly deep in the gutter to twist them...
III.
That night, as she tried to sleep, Ruby realized what it meant that Weiss's head was stuck that far in the gutter.
She also realized that the fact that she thought of the same things meant that she was there too.
IV.
Watching Weiss blush was worth getting into a little trouble, Ruby figured. Especially because she still wasn't convinced that this was going to get her into trouble.
Of course, if it did, everything was ruined. The friendship that it had taken so long to build would be gone. Probably the partnership as well... as much as it could be considering they were stuck together, anyway. Ruby shook her head, trying to clear it of bad thoughts. No, this would work. She was very optimistic that this would work.
Weiss walked into the room with perfect confidence. "Ruby?" she called, her voice lifting with the question. "What is it?"
The younger girl bit her lip and blinked slowly. This was it. "Um, well... I wanted to see you?" It came out a question, and she gulped. If only she was as confident as Weiss, maybe this whole thing would go better.
"As though we don't see each other enough," Weiss returned.
"Well, when we do, we're always fighting, or we're with Blake and Yang... I thought it would be cool to hang out just the two of us!"
"Hmm," Weiss hummed. "Well, what do you have planned?"
Ruby paused. She blinked again. "Um... well..."
She couldn't just tell Weiss she intended to take the older girl and kiss her, gently and sweetly on the lips. She couldn't just tell Weiss that she wanted to see her pale partner blush... not because it was fun (though it was), but because of what it meant.
"Ruby, you know I don't just hang. You should have planned something to do if you wanted to..."
"But I did," she whined. "It's just... really stupid."
"Well? Spill it! A stupid plan is better than no plan!"
Ruby quieted. "I was going to kiss you," she admitted, voice low.
Weiss blushed, a hot red blush that was deeper and darker than any blush before. Her cheeks weren't tinged pink... they were tinged red. Red like roses, red like blood, red like Ruby, red because of Ruby. This was the blush the young woman had wanted and waited for, but somehow, it was only vaguely satisfying. Ruby was completely on edge. "You were going to kiss me?" Weiss choked.
"I... I told you it was stupid."
There was a pause. Then, the pale woman spoke. "Well, a stupid plan is better than no plan," she said, blushing even hotter.
V.
Watching Weiss blush was one of Ruby's favorite things. Especially when she was the reason her girlfriend was blushing.
Of course, it was somewhat harder to do ever since Weiss had figured out that Ruby did it intentionally. And of course, sometimes the older of the partners played the game right back, until Ruby's face was the one that was burning hot.
Somehow, Ruby couldn't bring herself to mind that much.