I actually wrote this one a while ago, but new ideas kept pushing its publish date back so now here it is, a tad late, but here nonetheless. Happy RWBY Tuesday!
A/N: First portion here is a flashback. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart
When Weiss was younger, she had always been on a tight schedule due to her family's work.
Every day it was the same routine; wake up at 6AM, train until noon, and then she was usually prepped and prepared for some important business event that would demand her appearance was flawless and that she act like an adult.
However, she could still very clearly remember the one day the company meetings had been cancelled and her backup training lessons had also been voided. She had offered to read quietly in the library, but her father had said it would be too much trouble to bring her back home, therefore he told her to play with the children of the other businessmen.
Weiss had happily - perhaps foolishly - thought he wanted her to make friends, but later realized his intentions were to get on those families' good sides by appealing to them with his well-behaved daughter.
When Weiss had approached the other children, also dolled up like display mannequins or pieces of a menagerie, things had gone well between them, until one of the younger boys had tripped. Weiss went to help him up of her own volition, completely unaware of the compelling glare her father had been sending her, silently shouting for her to be the first one there before any of the other children.
She had offered the boy her hand, but when he had taken it, his grateful smile had immediately disappeared. He had instantly recoiled, yanking his hand back as though she had burned him. His reaction startled Weiss as she, too, timidly pulled her hand away.
"You're freezing!" the boy yelled. "You're like ice! What kind of freak are you?"
At his words, the other children had begun to gather around Weiss, ensnaring her in a circle of intrusive, crude hands that reached out to grab her own, their voices jeering.
One by one they all ran off, shrieking about the "Ice Queen", leaving Weiss standing alone, shocked and feeling hollow as her first potential companions raced away from her in fear.
Her father had stomped over to her, grumbling to himself as he grabbed her wrist and led her away; Weiss believed that she witnessed him, too, almost let go of her hand with a shudder.
The heiress strutted down the hallway, posture erect, eyes forward as they pierced through everything in her path.
She was still boiling with frustration about the dream she had experienced the night before, replaying the events of her childhood.
She had woken feeling colder than ever, despite the three other girls in the room keeping the temperature fairly warm. Weiss had denied the feelings of loneliness that threatened to overtake her and channeled them into annoyance.
Her teammates had realized her exceptional prickliness that morning, and even Ruby - who usually insisted upon pestering the heiress about every little thing - had kept her distance.
Good, Weiss thought presently. That's the way it should be. Everyone should keep away from me. It's better this way.
Since the day reflected in her dream, Weiss had avoiding touching other people as much as possible, and it seemed that by nature, they all avoided making contact with her as well.
However, there had been some situations where contact with her fellows had been unavoidable. In those instances, Weiss had been expecting normal reactions from people, wanting to believe the children from her past had all been playing some cruel prank and overreacting.
But even as she grew older, Weiss received the same startled glances and sharp recoils whenever her fingers so much as brushed against a portion of skin.
This, among several other things revolving around her life, had led to Weiss' attitude of high-avoidance toward other people. Even when she simply glanced at others, she would later hear comments about how her eyes glared icy daggers. Every time she returned a dropped pencil in class and her fingers touched someone else's, she received an uncomfortable stare in return. Every time her hand touched the door in sync with another's, an exaggerated flinch.
Weiss had clasped her hands together countless times before in an effort to get the circulation flowing properly, but it never seemed to have any effect.
When she touched her own arm, her fingers felt normal - or at least what she had always assumed to be normal. However she had come to realize that she lived in a very different world of touch from the rest of the world that viewed her as a cold, unapproachable being.
Presently, she stalked down the hallway, heading toward her shared dorm room now that classes for the day had ended. Even her attempts to focus on the lectures had not kept her mind from the disheartening memories of her childhood.
Her feet subconsciously led her back to the room, where she had just raised her hand to knock on the door before she froze.
Won't it just turn to ice and shatter to pieces? she thought bitterly.
Feeling stifled, she changed her mind about going inside and turned on her heel, deciding that a walk in the frigid, winter air outside would better fit her universal title of "Ice Queen".
But just before she could stride off back down the hallway, the clicking sound of a door unlocking sounded from behind her and she turned back. An all-too-familiar head of chocolate-brown hair popped up before her as Ruby narrowly avoided crashing into her partner.
"Ah, Weiss, there you are!" she piped up. "I was just gonna come looking for you-"
"Well you've found me now, but don't even think about following me," the heiress huffed, spinning back around to show the younger girl her back. She honestly did not fancy the idea of talking right now, and began to walk off when Ruby's hand shot out to grab hers.
"Wait!" Ruby said meaningfully. But before she could say any more, her hand was flung away as Weiss turned on her.
"Don't touch me!" Weiss snarled, her voice dripping with venom.
However, this was not a choice she made consciously; her body had adapted to avoid physical contact at all costs, her voice making sure to be as stinging as possible in order to deter others from trying it again, for she knew that it would only result in deepening the hole that already existed within her heart.
But even as she shouted at her leader, Weiss felt a pang in her chest, as she had not truthfully wanted to lash out at Ruby, though she was forced to keep up the appearance now.
Yet the stricken expression and watery silver eyes never appeared on her partner's face as Weiss had expected them to. But perhaps most surprisingly of all was the fact that Ruby acted like the heiress' harsh retort had never even happened.
"Whoa, Weiss! You're freezing!" Ruby exclaimed, reaching forward to grab both of her partner's hands. Weiss' body went into defensive mode as she tried to step away, attempting to block her ears from the appalled comment that she knew would follow.
However, Ruby did not flinch away like all the others had, nor did she stare at Weiss incredulously as though she were a ghost. Instead, she gave a reaction Weiss had never received before.
Her silver eyes were full of concern, and Weiss was so baffled by it that she stopped trying to pull away. But Ruby was still holding onto her hands, and Weiss feared that the trademark reaction would surface soon enough if she did not make her let go quickly.
"I'm always freezing," she scoffed. "My hands have been cold for all of my life. But what do you think you're doing, grabbing me like that?" Weiss finally shook Ruby off before crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm going for a walk. Just go back inside and-"
"Wait right there!"
Once more, Ruby acted as though Weiss had never spoken as she hastily cut the heiress off before rushing back into their team's room.
"Ruby Rose would you please listen to me when I'm talking to you for once in your life?!" Weiss barked after her. Had she not been so exasperated with her partner, she had half a mind to ignore Ruby's words and just storm off anyway. But Ruby returned not a minute later, holding something in her left hand as she reached out to take Weiss' hands with her right. "Ruby!" Weiss hissed. "What did I just-"
"Just put these on!" Ruby cut Weiss off for a third time that day, a feat no one had ever accomplished before since most people never even tried it in the first place. Weiss was rendered dumbfounded as she stood with her feet rooted to the floor, hardly even aware of Ruby as she fiddled with her hands.
At last, Ruby took a step back and placed her hands on her hips. "There!" she beamed triumphantly.
Weiss blinked slowly as she gazed down at the soft white gloves Ruby had slipped onto her hands.
Ruby then buried her own hands into a pair of red gloves before reaching down to entwine her fingers with the heiress'. "So, you said you were going for a walk. Can I tag along?" she asked.
"You..." Weiss tried to make her voice sound angry, but despite her best efforts, the usual venom had now evaporated under the brightness of the younger girl's smile.
Weiss just stared into Ruby's eyes for a second longer until those clear, honest, silver pools became too much for her to handle, and she was forced to look away, although her hand was still under Ruby's control. "Well," she scoffed. "It's obvious you're not going to listen to a single word I say anyway, so I guess you might as well..."
"Great! Thanks, Weiss!"
Ruby was nearly skipping alongside her as Weiss trudged down the hallway, toward the building's exit. It took Weiss a moment before she remembered her hand was still in Ruby's and she quickly flicked her partner's grip away. But the action did not faze Ruby as she continued to follow her partner outside into the crisp, early winter air.
There was a thin layer of snow sprinkled onto the grass, topping the bushes "like powdered sugar", as Ruby commented.
When they had walked a good distance away from the main campus, Ruby's hand found Weiss' again, and this time she was not shaken off.
As they continued to walk, a comfortable silence fell around them, a rare setting for the two of them. Time passed leisurely, until at last they had made a full lap around the school building.
It was just before they reentered when Ruby found both of Weiss' hands again, covering them with her own.
"What do you think you're-"
"Thanks for letting me walk with you." Keeping up with her record-breaking talent, Ruby cut Weiss off yet again. "Let me know when we can do it again!" she beamed.
"Maybe in your dreams..." Weiss muttered, unwilling to admit the fact that she rather enjoyed the warmth that was presently encompassing her hands.
"And Weiss?"
"What is it, Ruby?" she sighed, only mildly exasperated.
"You know what they say about people with cold hands, right?"
Weiss flinched slightly as the sore topic was brought up yet again.
Ruby took her silence as a cue to continue:
"They say people have cold hands because all the warmth that's supposed to be there is in their hearts instead!" she grinned.
The tart comment that Weiss had been preparing died on her lips, and she ended up letting out a quiet breath instead.
She allowed the faintest smile to grace her lips, but only for a fraction of a second, clearing her throat before Ruby could notice.
"Well, isn't that a nice little delusion you've created for yourself?" she snorted.
"Huh? It's not a delusion! It's definitely true!"
"Right, right," Weiss chanted dismissively. "Now let's get back inside. I'll make you some coffee."
"Really?" Ruby gave a little bounce. "You're the best, Weiss!" Ruby threw her arms around the unsuspecting heiress.
"Y-You dolt!" Weiss scoffed, trying to force the embarrassed blush off of her face. "I'm rescinding that offer if you don't behave," she warned.
"Ah, right! Got it!" Ruby released her embrace on Weiss, but that did not stop her hand from finding her partner's again.
"Honestly..." Weiss huffed. "I swear, you are such a child..." She muttered as they began heading back inside, trying to sound aggravated in contrast to the warm flutter within her chest. Turning her face away from her partner, Weiss gave a tiny smile and murmured, "Thanks, Ruby."
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Just come on, let's go back!"
Weiss picked up the pace a bit, Ruby following eagerly along after her.
And for the first time in her life, Weiss was able to savor the warmth of another hand in her own.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! You can find my art for this story on my tumblr at hanasaku-shijin,tumblr,com/post/66144546025.
Please review!