Ruby quietly hummed to herself as she carefully carried the giant plate of cookies back to the dorm room. Somehow she had finished her essay before the rest of the team, even the ever studious Weiss, and decided to make a treat for them. Under the guise of using the training room for weapons practice she instead had spent half the day baking, using her mother's perfect recipe. She knew that Yang and Blake would enjoy them. However, she was a little nervous about whether or not Weiss would. The snow-haired girl didn't like sweets, much less cookies.
Maybe Weiss would like her cookies. Then she would get a rare Ice Queen smile. Her partner hadn't smiled much over the last year and a half, but when she did, it was the better than the sweetest strawberries. She knew she would do anything to elicit one of those beautiful smiles.
Ruby shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out. Like Weiss would ever think of her the same way. The older girl was too perfect. Besides, rumor was another guy had asked her to the dance this year and she probably didn't even swing her way anyways. Well, at least they could still be friends.
As she got to the door she ran into a dilemma. With both hands managing the precarious towers of baked goods, she couldn't reach her scroll to unlock the door. While she was debating if it would be better to try to set the plate down, or knock and possibly interrupt the girls studying inside, she heard a series of loud shouts from several parties ring out. Before she could react, the door flew open, crashing into her and knocking the cookies out of her hands, her hard work cascading to the ground.
All she heard before sinking to her knees was a loud and angry Weiss yelling.
"You dunce!"
To say Weiss was irritated was an understatement. She was making no progress on her essay and somehow Ruby had finished hours ago. She was at the top of the class in academics, it should have been her that was the first one done.
Now the girl had disappeared to the training room, leaving Weiss to the mercy of Yang's increasingly annoying study habits. She had no idea how Blake put up with the blonde's antics. Even before the two had started dating, Blake seemed completely immune to her partner's noisy actions despite sharing a desk from day one. Sure enough, when she looked over to the couple, there were sitting shoulder to shoulder reading through reference material.
That's not to say Ruby didn't have her own ticks. Whenever Weiss studied with the younger girl it was a constant stream of foot bouncing, finger drumming, pencil tapping, humming, and sighing. No matter how much the heiress tried to silence her, it only seemed to increase the black-and-red-haired girl's hyper-active tendencies. However, when Ruby fidgeted it was less annoying and more endearing. There was something charming about the girl that Weiss herself didn't understand.
Now that she was thinking about her partner she realized she was losing focus on the essay that sat unfinished on her desk. When they had first met, the girl had been insufferable. Whiny, childish, and immature; Ruby still was those things, but it didn't bother her anymore. If anything, those traits drew Weiss in like a lodestone, dominating her thoughts. No one had ever managed to ensnare her in such a way.
She had "dated" before. Forced matchings with some entitled heir set up by her father and the boy's parents. They had never gone past the first outing, and she never, ever let them touch her. The closest thing she had ever had to an actual date was when she attended the dance last year with Neptune. Still, he was no better than the others. Not long after he had shown his womanizing ways. Thankfully, the only contact she had had with him was the bare minimum required to actually dance with another person.
Nothing before had affected her quite like proximity to her leader. Every hug, every accidental bump, every smile did things to her heart she didn't quite comprehend. Maybe with Ruby she could have something denied to her her entire life.
She tried to shake those thoughts from her head. Like her father would allow that. She could hear his voice now. 'No daughter of mine, no Schnee heiress, will ever have a relationship with another woman.'
Those words were drilled into her when she was young. The very first time was at a dance when she was 12 and had asked another girl to dance with her. Despite her cute smile, the girl had been standing all alone. Weiss had simply wanted to keep her company and make her feel better. Shortly after they had reached the dance floor, her father had roughly grabbed her and hauled her off to another room. Screaming at her that she was embarrassing him, and behaving as an abomination, until she fled crying to her room. Since then, it was simply the truth that she had lived with.
Besides, the only thing that black and red-haired girl would ever call 'sweetheart' was that over sized gardening tool she carried around with her.
A sharp sound pulled her from her thoughts. Looking over, she saw that Yang had somehow managed to knock over her, thankfully, empty coffee mug.
"Be careful, you oaf!" She yelled before thinking.
"Sorry, princess. It was an accident." The blonde replied, failing to placate Weiss' wrath.
"I would believe that it wasn't the third time in the last half hour! Could you at least attempt to be less of a nuisance while I'm studying." Weiss continued, apparently more frustrated with her current situation than she previously thought. Though which situation, the ever obstinate paper or her thoughts about Ruby, was causing the tribulation, she didn't know.
"You know what?!" Yang bellowed back. Her hair was starting to glow as her temper built up. "Ruby may think you're some kind of living, breathing goddess, but the rest of us don't have to put up with you."
"W-what?" Ruby thought that about her?
"You heard me!" Yang continued, eyes getting dangerously red. "And if I'm such a nuisance why don't you study somewhere else?"
"Ugh, fine!" She snapped back. Standing quickly she piled her books and computer into her bag and beelined to the exit.
As she threw the door open, it was stopped halfway as it collided with another object. Still annoyed, she squeezed her small frame through the opening. Spotting a glint of red out of the corner of her eye and she realized what had blocked the door.
"You dunce!" She exclaimed angrily without thinking, starting to march down the hallway.
A thud, one so soft she barely heard it, caught her ear. Turning around out of curiosity, she was taken aback by what she saw. Ruby sat slumped on her knees with a platter of cookies scattered across the floor in front of her. While Ruby could eat more cookies than she had ever seen anyone consume before, there was no way they all were for the younger girl. Were they for Weiss and the rest of the team as well?
A choked sob broke her out of her thoughts. Her anger disappeared in a flash, immediately replaced with concern. Weiss rushed to her leader's side, kneeling on the floor next to her. She made sure to keep what she was filtering what she wanted to say, taking a diplomatic approach instead.
"Are you alright?" Weiss inquired. -I'm so sorry, Ruby!- "Were all these cookies for you?"
"N-no. You were all working so hard, I wanted to get you guys a treat as a reward." The younger girl responded.
"Since I ruined these, I can take you to the store and buy you more." She offered. -Please let me make this up to you!-
"No." Came a quick response, followed by a mumble Weiss couldn't quite hear.
"What?" -I need you to smile!- "What do you mean, 'no'?"
"It's not the same." Ruby explained, eyes cast downwards. "These aren't store bought cookies. I made these for you. With a special ingredient too."
Like always, Ruby was frustratingly sweet, almost exclusively thinking of others before herself. Instead of taking advantage of the rare bit of free time she had earned by finishing early, she had instead spent half her day making something to improve her team's morale.
"Well…" Weiss hesitated, unsure of herself and what she was about to offer. Her next sentence was in earnest "How about I help you bake more?"
Ruby's smile as she instantly perked up made her heart stutter.
"R-really?" The girl fidgeted and played with the hem of her skirt. "You want to bake cookies with me?"
"Of course, you dolt." Weiss replied softly, smiling back. -Anything, as long as it's with you.- "I did ruin your last batch after all."
Realizing that she may have been staring into those silver eyes for a little too long, Weiss stood up, grabbed Ruby's hand, and started dragging her down the hallway to the dorm kitchen. She realized her mistake immediately as she heard a small 'eep!' and quickly released the younger girl's hand.
"Hurry up, Dolt!"
Ruby sat amongst the littered refuse of her hard work stunned by what she just heard. Weiss wanted to spend time with her? And baking cookies no less. She knew she should squash her enthusiasm. Weiss was probably just trying to live up to the promise she made a year and a half ago to be the 'best teammate ever'. Still, a little optimism is good for you, right?
Heart racing, she fought back the blush creeping up onto her cheeks.
"R-really?" She forced her head down, unable to subdue her rapidly coloring cheeks. Using the hem of her skirt as a usable distraction, she intentionally played with it. "You want to bake cookies with me?"
"Of course, you dolt." Despite the soft reply, the words rang loudly through Ruby's brain. 'You dolt', the insult turned nickname. Though now Ruby was sure they were used with affection now. "I did ruin your last batch after all"
Gazing back into those icy orbs and perfect smile, she felt herself get lost. So when Weiss suddenly stood up and started pulling her down the hallway by her hand, she could only let out a very surprised 'eep!'. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the wrong response and the snow-haired girl quickly relinquished her grasp.
"Hurry up, Dolt!" she exclaimed over her shoulder, continuing down the hallway.
Feeling warm over another use of Weiss' apparent pet name for her, she dashed forward, grabbed the older girl's hand, and pulled her down the hall.
"Let's go bake some cookies!"
The cookie project was going better than Ruby hoped it ever could. She had been a little over ambitious when she first bought supplies, and there would be plenty for at least a few more days of baking. Because of the excess supplies, she was able to teach Weiss how to make cookies without worrying about messups. Still, her partner was a quick learner.
With the last batch finally placed in the oven, all that remained was to clean up. Trying to think of a way to break the silence, Ruby did what usually makes situations better, apologize.
"Sorry for dragging you away from your essay, I know you wanted to get it done." She lowered her head.
"Don't worry about it, Ruby." The snow-haired girl smiled at her. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't."
She paused.
"Hey, you never actually mentioned what the secret ingredient was." She glanced around curiously. "I've never baked cookies before, but none of these seem like they are anything you should keep hushed up."
Ruby hesitated, realizing what her mother always told her might mean something different for Weiss. Would the heiress discover the nature of Ruby's feelings for her? Would Weiss rebuke her?
"I'm waiting." Weiss said sharply.
"Heh, heh, well…" Ruby chuckled, blushed, and rubbed the back of her head simultaneously. "When I was young, and my mom would bake Yang and I cookies, she would always tell us they were the best cookies because they were made with… love"
"Love? That's it?! Ruby, that's what parents tell their children to make them feel good. It doesn't actually affect the taste of the cookies at all!" Weiss scolded, the volume of her voice had definitely increased. Simply discounting the idea was not an outcome the younger girl had thought of.
"But… yeah Weiss, you're right." Ruby turned away. "Guess I was just being a dolt like usual."
She couldn't see her partner, but she thought she heard her partner mumble something that made her heart skip a beat. There was no way she could have heard it correctly. It sounded a lot like Weiss had whispered, 'But you're my dolt'.
Acting before she could convince herself otherwise, she leaned forward towards Weiss. Encouraged that the white-haired girl didn't try withdrawing, she tried to close the last few inches. Ruby shut her eyes just in time to overextend herself. She toppled over from leaning too far forward, barely missing Weiss and dragging the bag of flour off the counter and onto the ground with her.
Weiss had never baked cookies before, but she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember ever cooking anything for herself, everything had alway been prepared by her family's servants at home or the cafeteria here at Beacon. Still, it was not a difficult process. You added precise amounts of ingredients in a specific order, then baked them at an exact temperature for the specified amount of time, and voila, cookies. No doubt there was a myriad of different recipes, but Ruby only wanted her mother's chocolate chip cookies, and Weiss had no hesitation about perfecting it.
There was only one problem, and that was Ruby herself. The girl flew around the kitchen adding ingredients without measure and eating copious amounts of cookie dough before they could even be put in the oven. No matter how counter to the actual process the younger girl's antics were, Weiss had no heart to turn down the laughter and squeals of delight coming from her. Her leader looked too happy buzzing around, and she drank the sight in utterly entranced.
No! Weiss shook her head. She had to maintain focus. She couldn't be distracted by the bumbling dunce that she would never call her own. Focusing on the task at hand again, she realized she was down to the one last batch.
Forming the last few bits of cookie dough into identically shaped ball on the tray. She realized Ruby had never told her what the secret ingredient was. Glancing around, she couldn't identify anything that could possibly be against common knowledge. Flour, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, butter, salt and chocolate chips, nothing special at all.
Before she could ask Ruby, the young girl intruded on the silence.
"Sorry for dragging you away from your essay." She bowed her head. "I know you wanted to get it done."
Weiss was confused for a second. -What essay?-... Oh!- Her frustration returned in a snap when she thought back to the unfinished paper inside her book bag.
"Don't worry about it, Ruby." She forced her frustration down, wanting to return to her enjoyment of her time spent with the girl. Trying to coax a smile out of her partner with one of her own, Weiss continued. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't."
She paused for a second. Now was the best opportunity to ask Ruby about her secret ingredient.
"Hey, you never actually mentioned what the secret ingredient was. I've never baked cookies before, but none of these seem like they are anything you should keep hushed up."
Ruby almost looked embarrassed, blushing and rubbing the back of her head.
"Heh, heh, well… When I was young, and my mom would bake Yang and I cookies, she would always tell us they were the best cookies because they were made with… love"
Weiss was stunned. -Did Ruby just say she had made me love cookies?!- She really hoped she actually liked cookies.
Like before she had to carefully monitor her thoughts and filter what she said. So instead of melting at Ruby's words, she scolded her for the childish concept.
"Love? That's it?! Ruby, that's what parents tell their children to make them feel good. It doesn't actually affect the taste of the cookies at all!" She instantly regretted her words. She wished she could say what she truly wanted to.
Ruby turned her head away, looking ashamed. "But… yeah Weiss, you're right. Guess I was just being a dolt like usual."
"But you're my dolt." Weiss whispered to herself. -Did I just say that out loud?!- It had slipped out in her haste to comfort the girl. Hopefully Ruby didn't hear it.
Weiss froze. Ruby had definitely heard and had started leaning towards her with a nervous look on her face. Did Ruby really feel the same about her? What was she supposed to do? Suppose something did come out of this, her father would never accept it. She would be pulled from Beacon and not be allowed to be a Huntress or ever see Ruby again. Even if they could keep it secret from her father, what would happen if they broke up? They would still be roommates, teammates, and partners.
Still, she did promise Ruby she would be the 'best teammate ever'. What better way to be to fulfill her promise than to get as close as possible to the younger girl?
Before she could make up her mind Ruby disappeared from view. Looking down, she saw the absolutely embarrassed visage of a flour covered girl staring in horror back up at her. Then Ruby was gone in a burst of rose petals.
Weiss sighed, disappointed in her indecision. Now she had another choice to make. Did she chase after her partner and lose the girl's second attempt at cookies today, or stay to finish the job and possibly risk her very life. Giving Ruby some space then bringing her fresh cookies would definitely be the best option. Though she would have to survive the consequences of waiting.
"WEISS SCHNEE!" Weiss winced as she heard an angry voice echo down the hallway. "You're a dead woman!"
Only a few moments late the door to the dorm kitchen slammed open unleashing an inferno into the room. Yang stormed in hair aflame and eyes flashing red. She grabbed Weiss by the collar of her jacket and pushed her into the wall.
"What the hell did you do to my sister?!" Yang yelled into the heiress' face, only inches away.
"I didn't do anything!" Weiss yelled back with a hint of sadness. "That's what happened. I should've done something and I didn't."
Yang's irises slowly faded to purple as the anger changed to confusion.
"If you didn't do anything, why is my sister huddling under the bed, crying, and covered in flour?!"
"Let me go, you oaf, and I'll tell you."
For a moment Weiss thought the brawler wouldn't release her. Yang was normally easy-going, but had a legendary temper when provoked. And nothing provoked her more than someone messing with her little sister. It wasn't until the ding of the oven broke the last bit of haze over blonde's concentration that Weiss was finally released.
Allowing Weiss to walk past her to the oven, Yang jumped to sit on the counter.
"I'll ask you one more time, Ice Queen. What happened to my sister?"
Weiss glared at the offending blond who merely crossed her arms. She sighed and placed the cookies on a cooling tray.
"Right after our argument I ran into Ruby right outside our dorm and caused her to drop her cookies, so I offered to help her bake more." The heiress explained.
"So, that explains the cookies everywhere. But she loves baking cookies, why would she leave before you two were done? And why the hell is she covered in flour?" The brawler demanded.
"Well…." Weiss hesitated.
"Spit it out!"
"You have to promise you will not say anything to Ruby, Blake, or anyone else. And no teasing."
"What? Why?"
"Either promise, or I will not tell."
"Oh, alright." The blonde relented.
"Ruby and I discovered we both had feelings for each other. It was not the most.." Weiss searched for the most appropriate word. "...graceful of conversations."
"You mean she Ruby'd it up."
"You can say it that way. She fell and dragged a bag of flour down with her." She peered curiously at the blonde. "You do not seem too surprised by this?"
"Promise you won't say anything either?" Yang inquired, to which Weiss responded with a single nod. "Rubes confided in me awhile ago, so it was only a matter of time. And leave it to her to mess up a romantic moment." Yang winked at Weiss. "Sorry for the violence earlier. I saw my baby sis in tears and assumed the worst."
"Don't worry about it, Yang. I would have done the same thing in your position."
"So, what's your next step?"
"Taking these cookies to your sister."
"And then?"
"Then…. we will see. Do not expect anything"
At Yang's behest Weiss gathered up the cookies and trudged back to the dorm room, letting the brawler clean up the mess that remained. Arriving at the door she deftly solved the problem that had caused Ruby's downfall; she carefully set the cookies down and quietly opened the door. With cookies in hand again she surveyed the room, noticing Blake laying stomach down on the ground softly talking to the area under the heiress' bed.
Realizing that Ruby must be under the bed she cleared her throat to get Blake's attention. When the onyx-haired girl looked her way she beckoned with her finger. Getting up from her prone position and closed with Weiss with a skeptical look on her face.
"Congratulations, you survived Yang's fury." The faunus smirked and whispered to the heiress once they were close enough. "What happened to Ruby?"
"I did, but it was close." Weiss paused and scowled. She needed alone time with Ruby, but would Blake be as understanding as Yang?
"Blake, can you give Ruby and I a moment? I think Yang could use your help in the kitchen."
"OK. Just let us know if you or Ruby need anything." With that Blake patted her teammate on the shoulder before leaving the room, silently closing the door behind her.
Weiss walked over to the desk she shared with Ruby and set the cookies down softly, careful not to spill even a single crumb. With the cookies secure she took Blake's vacated position. Peering under the bed, she could see the slightly trembling outline of the young girl's body facing away from her.
Deciding she needed to be upfront and honest, she called out to her partner with a concern ladened voice. "Hey, Ruby."
"A-are you mad at me?" Came a hesitant reply.
"Why would I be mad at you, D-... Ruby?" Weiss bit back her signature insult. It wouldn't help this situation.
"Because I tried t-to…" She stuttered out.
"Don't worry about it." Weiss reached out to the girl under the bed. "Can you please come out?"
Ruby finally turned to face her. "Promise not to yell at me?"
"Yes, dolt. I promise." She grimaced internally at accidentally using the affectionate insult. Judging by the girl's reaction, Ruby seemed to either not hear it or not mind. The black and red haired girl finally reached out and grabbed Weiss' hand, allowing her to help Ruby crawl out from her hiding spot.
Once Ruby was out from under the bed, the heiress finally got a good look at her face; pale white from the flour except for the streaks carved by her tears and attempts at wiping her eyes. Helping the young girl sit on the bed, Weiss gently curled the fingers of one hand under Ruby's chin and used the sleeve of her jacket to gently wipe the tears and residual flour off her face.
Smiling, she spoke softly, voice barely louder than a whisper. "All better now"
Ruby sniffed and briefly stared at her with watery eyes before latching onto Weiss with a hug.
"I'm s-sorry! I shouldn't have tried to do that" The cloaked girl cried into her shoulder.
"You're fine." Weiss hugged her back but struggled with what to do next. She didn't really have any experience comforting others. Hugging back seemed obvious, but what else could she do? They sat holding each other for quite some time in silence, Ruby having calmed down after only a few minutes. It wasn't until Weiss looked up that she realized the answer had been sitting on the desk the whole time. Though when she tried to stand, she found she couldn't break free of Ruby's grasp.
"Give me a second." She smiled at Ruby's concerned eyes. "Literally, one second."
Finally relinquishing herself from her partner's clutches, she quickly walked over to the desk to grab a handful of cookies and and returned to her previous spot. She had no idea what to expect, she had never actually had a cookie before. Biting it she decided it wasn't that bad. Soft and buttery, with just enough chocolate for flavor without overloading her taste buds with sugar.
"D-do you like them?" Ruby asked, silver eyes pleading.
"Yes." Weiss smiled, and received one of her partner's brilliant grins in return. "I think your mom was right."
"I thought you said that was childish?" Ruby stared at her.
"I was wrong." Weiss stared back into the eyes of the girl that held her heart. "The best cookies ARE made with love."
Those silver eyes told her that maybe things would work out after all.
A/N: Thanks for reading! This will be the first in a series of one-shots existing in the same mini-AU. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to MrIlax for editing/beta help. Check out his story 'Fall Maiden - Brightest Light'.
Edit: Thanks reviewers for pointing out some amateur mistakes for me! I think I fixed everything.