One more Halloween-ish fic, as promised!

Also, I know I've been jumping around in my stories, pairing-wise (sometimes having them be couples or dating and sometimes not). As for this story, the four of them are just in the beginning stages of dating, mostly dumb flirty stuff, but nothing major.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Pumpkin Carving

The early morning sent a pale grey light seeping past the gaps in the red curtains of team RWBY's bedroom.

As Weiss' conscious came to her, her eyes remained closed for a minute longer as she attempted to register everything, feeling her shoulders relax slightly when she realized it was the weekend and she did not have classes to fret over being late for. The rest of her senses then sparked to life as she heard the faint hissing of rain pattering outside.

But the thing that made her mist-blue eyes blink open was the aroma that filled her lungs. It was somewhat familiar, but as her mind was still slightly fuzzy from sleep, she could not place it just yet.

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she then pushed herself up, her loose, alabaster hair slipping down her shoulders and back.

A familiar voice then sounded from the other side of the room. "Ah... we woke her up..." Ruby muttered in a sheepish whisper.

As Weiss turned to look over her shoulder, several things caused her to stiffen.

Her three teammates were already up and fully dressed in more casual attire than their uniforms, but that was not the heiress' greatest concern.

What set off the red flag that her leader was up to something troublesome was the newspaper scattered across the floor, and the four orange pumpkins in their arms.

"M-Morning, Weiss!" Her partner was the first to greet Weiss as the heiress hastily threw the covers off of herself and stood.

"Where do I start?" Weiss sighed. "But first of all, why didn't any of you wake me?" she growled accusingly. They all knew that Weiss did not particularly like sleeping in, especially on days off, as she preferred to utilize the free time for training and studying.

"Sorry..." Ruby bowed her head. "You just seemed so tired last night, so we-"

"Whatever..." Weiss snapped, hardly interested in the excuses. "Okay, I'll bite. What are those?" She jabbed a finger to the two vegetables in Ruby's arms.

"They're pumpkins!" the team leader beamed. "Here, this one's yours!" She held one out toward Weiss, but the heiress kept her bare feet rooted to the floor.

"I can see that," Weiss glowered at her. "I want to know why you have them."

"Geez," Yang cut in to answer for her struggling sister. "Why are you always so hostile about everything?" She said this casually, but it earned her an annoyed glare from the heiress. "Well, to answer your question, princess, they're for carving!"

"Excuse me?" Weiss scoffed.

"Halloween," Blake chimed in informatively. "Apparently it's customary in some countries to carve images into pumpkins around this time of year for celebratory purposes, even though the origins of the ancient festival-"

"Okay, hold on there, Blake!" Yang silenced her partner by gently nudging her side. "We don't need the entire history. All she needs to know is that we've gotta carve these puppies up!"

Weiss gave a long-suffering sigh. "And why in the world would you ever think I would participate in such a childish event?" She glared at Ruby as she emphasized the word.

"Because it'll be fu-!"

"Whaaaat if I told you," Yang quickly cut her sister off. "That it was... an event mandatory by the school?"

"I'd tell you you're lying through your teeth."

"Aha, guess that plan failed..."

"Well, it's kind of true," Blake interjected. "They were giving the pumpkins out on campus and telling us to have fun with our friends."

"There!" Yang boasted. "Ya see? So whaddaya say, Weiss? How 'bout carvin' up some pumpkins with us?"

"Absolutely not."

"But why not?!" Ruby joined Yang in her cry of disbelief; as if they should have been surprised by Weiss' reaction.

"Because," Weiss retorted. "It's pointless. Now if you'll please excuse me, I'd like to change so I can-"

"So you can what?" Yang challenged with a smirk. "Train outside in the sopping rain?" Weiss stiffened and halted in her stride across the room as the blonde continued. "Come on, Weiss. Be part of the team in a different way for once. It's not all about fighting together; we've got to enjoy ourselves together, too!"

Weiss silently met the gazes of each of her teammates in turn. Although it was evident Blake did not hold much knowledge on the topic, Ruby and Yang were certainly eager about it.

Biting her lip in frustration, Weiss sighed yet again. "Do whatever you want." She brushed past Ruby, grabbing a change of clothes as she headed into the bathroom.

Ruby sent a worried look at her sister. "Do you think she's mad?" she mumbled nervously; Yang knew that nothing upset Ruby more than the notion of Weiss being upset.

"Nah, she's just pouting because she knows she'll cave eventually," Yang declared triumphantly. "Trust me."

The three of them then sat down on the floor they had previously littered with newspapers. Ruby left a space open between Blake and herself, placing the pumpkin they had procured for Weiss there.

Blake drew out the carving tools she had been given from her pocket and distributed them to her teammates.

"This would be a lot easier with Crescent Rose..." Ruby mumbled, looking at the pathetic size of the knife.

"Then it'd just be pumpkin pie..." Yang laughed. "Okay! So what are we gonna carve?" she asked loudly.

As the three of them debated what to do, Weiss quietly emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a casual, white dress. For a moment, she watched as the others shifted around, muttering about what they should carve. Ruby was using a marker to pre-draw her idea on the newspaper, and Weiss subconsciously leaned forward slightly to peer over her shoulder. But when Ruby felt eyes on her, she turned around.

"Weiss, do you-"

"Tsk. Yeah right." Weiss quickly scrunched her nose in distaste as she went back to make her bed. She scowled out the window at the pouring rain, knowing that if she turned around now she would only bear witness to Ruby's stricken expression.

Grimacing, Weiss let out her umpteenth sigh as she turned around again, stomping back across the room before begrudgingly taking her intended spot on the floor beside Ruby.

"Weiss!" Ruby's crestfallen eyes immediately brightened again, and Weiss had to fight her own lips to make sure they did not show her smile. "Are you going to carve them with us?"

"I'm just watching," she huffed, crossing her arms.

Ruby excitedly met Yang's eyes, and her elder sister gave her a thumbs-up in return.

The blonde then realized Blake was having a bit of trouble with her carving and had to stop her. "Ah, Blake wait! You can't carve it yet! You have to gut it first!"

"You have to what?!" Weiss repeated, disgusted. Ruby chuckled beside her. "And just what is so funny?" The heiress rounded on her. "What does she mean you have to gut it?"

Ruby chuckled even harder when she saw the curiosity sparking in her partner's eyes; her act to seem uninterested in the event had been completely destroyed.

"Here, let me show you." Ruby continued to saw the top of her pumpkin off until she had cut all the way around, Weiss inadvertently leaning closer to her to get a better view. "Heads up!" Ruby gripped the stem of her pumpkin before yanking it off, sending a small splatter of orange mush flying in all directions.

"Ruby!" Weiss scrambled backward with an appalled shout as her white hair and dress were stained orange.

"Oops, sorry!" the younger huntress apologized.

"Sorry?!" Weiss shrieked, drawing the attention of Yang and Blake. "What is this stuff?!"

"It's pumpkin innards!" Ruby announced.

"Ugh!" Weiss quickly got to her feet before retreating to the bathroom.

"'Pumpkin innards'?" Yang muttered to her sister. "Smooth, Ruby. Smooooth."

"It'll be a miracle if she comes back now," Blake commented.

"She... might still come back..." Ruby said hopefully, even though she knew the high unlikeliness of the possibility.

Yang just shrugged, disappointed that her sister had screwed up her rare chance to bond a little with Weiss, but used the situation to her own advantage as she assisted Blake.

"Here, watch me." Yang demonstrated how to carve the rim of the pumpkin off, making a point to move it away from them before tearing the top off. Blake copied her motions and did the same.

"Now comes the fun part." Yang then plunged her hand into the pumpkin, grabbing handfuls of the slimy insides and pulling them out, dropping them onto the newspapers. Blake, however, appeared uncertain about it. "It's not as bad as it looks," Yang promised. "Besides, you have to empty it out if you wanna carve it."

"I think I'll just use the tools," Blake decided. She carefully began scraping the insides of her pumpkin out as her impulsive partner continued the process in her own methods.

Ruby watched them a bit enviously, mentally kicking herself for having messed up the one opportunity she had gotten to do the same with Weiss.

She let out a heavy sigh as she began cutting out the insides of her own pumpkin, keeping one eye on the bathroom door. When it finally did reopen, Ruby immediately straightened up to turn toward her partner.

"Weiss! I'm really-"

"Honestly, Ruby!" Weiss cut her off loudly as she sat back down in her spot. "Try warning me next time, will you?"

"I..." Ruby's miserable expression soon turned to one of content. Next time! she thought. "Right!" She beamed. "Sorry about that!"

The bubbling atmosphere then displayed just how joyful the huntress was to have Weiss back at her side.

Weiss watched patiently, her eyes calculating as she observed Ruby beginning to carve a shape into the front of the pumpkin. When Ruby saw her serious expression, she laughed again.

"Ppft, Weiss, you don't have to look so serious!" she chuckled. "We're not in the midst of battle right now."

"Well, if I'm going to do this, I want to do it right!" the heiress barked.

Ruby chuckled again. "Okay, okay." She smiled, relishing the happy flutter in her chest. "First you need to carve a hole around the top..." She had Weiss transfer her pumpkin to her and Ruby stabbed one of the knives into the top. "You need to go around the stem," she explained, starting the process.

"Okay, well at least let me try it out!" Weiss huffed. She took the tools from Ruby and tried to focus on the vegetable. She moved her arm back and forth in a sawing motion, but her execution was so uncertain she ended up making a wobbly line away from the top; rapiers she could master, but this?

"Here, let me help," Ruby offered as she moved behind Weiss. "It's really tough so you've gotta put your weight into it." She placed her hands on top of Weiss' and manually moved the heiress' arms over the proper motions. "Since the insides are still there, you have to cut through them and the skin so it's kind of... Weiss?" Ruby halted in her explanation as she realized the heiress had frozen and was no longer trying to carve the pumpkin.

Ruby looked up to catch Yang and Blake watching them, respectively amused and curious, before Yang quickly turned away, stifling a snicker. She ended up failing though, as she buried her face in Blake's shoulder and guffawed out loud.

"God, she is so bad at this!" the blonde cackled.

Blake sent Ruby a pitiful look before she attempted to calm Yang's laughter.

"S... S-Sorry, Weiss!" Ruby quickly let go of her partner whose posture had stiffened significantly.

"H-Honestly..." Weiss huffed when Ruby's warmth had left her. "You've at least got to let me try it myself..." she muttered, pretending to ignore Yang's amused mumbling.

"Right, sorry..." Ruby apologized again.

She moved away, silently taking her place next to Weiss once more as she continued to quietly tend to her own pumpkin.

Weiss flicked her eyes sideways at her dejected partner before biting back another sigh. She picked up the carving tool that had been left in the pumpkin's rim and began cutting away again. However, her motions were still too clumsy, and even though she would normally never admit it, she knew it would be better than producing a massacred end result.

"Ruby!" Weiss announced meaningfully.

"Y-Yes?!" The younger girl jumped.

"I need help..."

"You..." Ruby quickly flashed her eyes at Yang who was silently screaming 'Don't mess up this chance she's giving you!'. Ruby glanced back to Weiss who was glaring at her expectantly. "R-Right!" Ruby chirped.

She moved to sit behind Weiss again, slightly pressing herself against the heiress' back as she helped her cut through the pumpkin. Weiss felt her heart begin to beat faster and did her best to ignore it as she tried to focus on the task at hand.

After a minute that seemed like an hour, the two of them finally managed to cut all the way around the top of Weiss' pumpkin. "There!" Ruby said triumphantly as she pulled Weiss' hand and the knife away.

She then quickly let go of the heiress and went back to her own spot. Weiss remembered to breathe as her partner moved away.

"Okay, now I'm warning you," Weiss declared. "I'm going to open it." She then braced herself and gathered her strength, not willing to allow Ruby to assist her again. But when she pulled at the stem, the top popped off fairly easily, and Weiss ended up falling backward onto the floor.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked as their other two teammates blinked worriedly.

"Honestly!" Weiss snapped as she sat up immediately. "Why is this such a difficult process?"

"That's part of what makes it so much fun!" Yang interjected.

"If this is fun, then I'm an Ursa..." Weiss muttered.

"Do you know what you're going to carve?" Blake spoke up, looking pleased with herself at what she had done so far that she still kept hidden from Yang's straying eyes.

"What am I supposed to carve?" Weiss glanced over at Ruby. "What are you doing?" she wondered.

"Ah, ah! No stealing ideas!" Ruby wagged a finger at her.

"Wha- I'm not!" Weiss defended. "I'm appalled you would even suggest something like that!"

"I'm just kidding!" Ruby laughed. "Carve whatever you want!" she replied simply. "But first you've got to dig the insides out of your pumpkin," Ruby reminded her.

"Ugh!" Weiss covered her mouth with her palm as though she were about to be sick. "There is no way I am doing that!"

"But that's the best part!" Yang pouted.

"Leave her alone," Ruby chuckled. "Here, I'll do it."

Weiss tentatively rolled her pumpkin into Ruby's fingers, acting as though it might spit slime at her at any second. Ruby rolled up her sleeves and began scraping out the guts of the pumpkin, scooping them onto the newspapers as Weiss watched with her nose scrunched in disgust.

When Ruby had finished, she returned the pumpkin to its owner. "You might want to roll up your sleeves," she suggested. She took note that Weiss had already tied up her hair, knowing it was going to be a messy process.

Weiss did as she suggested and fixed her sleeves before accepting the small carving tool Ruby handed her. She grimaced as she received the pumpkin, glaring down at it distastefully.

"What am I supposed to carve..." she muttered under her breath.

Ruby watched her amusedly for a minute before letting her alone. She concentrated on her own work, occasionally hearing her sister whine about Blake not letting her see what she was carving.

Every few minutes Ruby would also lean casually sideways, hoping to catch a glimpse of Weiss' pumpkin. But the heiress stubbornly turned away from Ruby, hiding her design altogether.

"You're just going to have to wait!" she huffed.

"Oh, fiiiine." Ruby feigned disappointment. She was wondering if Weiss was embarrassed about a lack of experience in this field, and mused silently to herself about it.

In reality, Weiss was actually a bit flustered by the daunting task presented to her. She had not the slightest idea of what to carve, but did not want the others to finish before her and then have more pressure added for her to finish her final product.

Therefore, she began carving the first image that came to mind.

It took about thirty minutes for the four of them to finish their pumpkin carvings.

The first one done was Yang, who proudly presented a goofy-looking jack-o-lantern face. It had triangular eyes and a wide smile full of pointed teeth, and the entire expression was slightly lopsided; in short, it was very reflective of Yang's personality.

Second to finish was Blake, who turned her completed pumpkin around for the rest of them to see. She had carved a very detailed image of a cat with a crescent moon in the background. It was very neat and had no leftover slime on the front like Yang's did.

"Aww, that is so cute!" Yang squealed. She went to hug Blake in her zealous manner, but stopped short when she realized her hands were covered in pumpkin guts. Blake resorted to grabbing a fresh newspaper and wiping them off for her.

"You two certainly chose strange things..." Weiss mumbled. She had actually managed to finish before Ruby and turned her pumpkin around proudly for her teammates to observe.

The heiress' pumpkin presented an image very different from the rest of theirs. It was an elegant, intricate design that spoke of meticulous handiwork. The image formed the shape of a flower with various petals blossoming in all directions.

"Wow..." Ruby's jaw dropped. "How did you manage to do that so quickly?"

"Hmph." Weiss smirked smugly. "It was easy enough."

"Seriously?" Yang butted in. "I mean, it's nice 'n all, but you were supposed to carve something scary!"

"Excuse me?" Weiss puffed out her chest in indignation. "No one ever told me there were rules for doing this! I was told to carve whatever I wanted! Plus, how would yours even be considered scary anyway?" she accused.

"Mine's a spooky face!" Yang defended. "And Blake's is... well... Blake's is..." She fumbled for an excuse as she glanced at the fairly innocent cat design. "It's... got the moon in it so therefore it's nighttime and therefore it's scary!"

"Honestly..." Weiss muttered. "Ruby, what did you carve?" She lifted herself onto her knees so she could get a better view of Ruby's recently-completed work.

Engraved in Ruby's pumpkin was the image of a Beowulf, and it was detailed enough that the others had obviously not been expecting such a result from Ruby.

"So... what do you think?" The youngest girl shifted slightly in embarrassment as her teammates judged the fruits of her labor.

"It looks great," Blake was the first to compliment her.

"Great?" Yang parroted. "Are you kidding me? That's the most artistic thing Ruby's ever done! And it looks amazing! What say you, princess?" She directed the question over to Weiss.

The heiress inspected her partner's art with scouring eyes, delving into every nook and cranny.

"Well for starters, that's not what their teeth look like. The length ratio of canines to fangs is off. Plus, you gave it too much fur," she critiqued. Ruby hung her head and Weiss kept her smirk to herself as she continued, softening her tone. "But above all, I'd say it's a terrible waste that you put so much effort into it and it'll be decayed in only a few weeks."

"S... So you think it's good?" Ruby looked up hopefully.

"It's just fine," Weiss reassured her. "Plus, why is this about me, anyway? You didn't do all this just to try and impress me, did you? You did it for... for the fun of it..." Weiss trailed off, sounding a bit unsure of herself.

It was at that moment when she realized what her teammates had gone through on her behalf that day.

Of course she had been aware she was being dragged into their antics when she had accepted to join in, but now it occurred to her that she had always been willing to do so in the first place; she did not want her activities together with them to be chores.

"Thanks, Weiss!" Ruby presented her with a wide grin, and in her haste stretched her arms open wide.

Weiss immediately went into defensive mode as her passionate partner inched closer to her. "Wait, Ruby no! You're covered in pum-!"

"Hug-tackle!"

Ruby quite literally tackled Weiss to the ground.

"Ruby!" Weiss shrieked. "That's disgusting! Get off of me this instant!" she demanded. "Your hands are all slimy! That's volatile! Please stop!" she begged.

"You can just wash it off later!" Ruby was too happy at the moment to care for Weiss' objections.

The odd couple continued to wrestle and roll around through the crackling newspapers, their voices a comedic mixture of screeching and giggling. Yang and Blake watched in failed attempts to stifle their laughter.

Once Weiss had finally shoved Ruby off of herself, the younger girl wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Sorry, sorry..." she apologized. "I was just... so happy. Here, let me help you." She stood and offered Weiss a pumpkin-caked hand.

Weiss glared up at her, still breathing heavily from the battle. "Well, I guess there's no point in refusing now." She sighed, indicating her orange-dyed attire before taking her leader's hand and getting to her feet. "I'm going to take a shower and you're just going to have to wait out here covered in slime until I'm finished. I'll be taking my sweet time!" she decided.

"Sure, sure." Ruby tucked a loose strand of hair behind the heiress' ear.

Weiss bent down to grab a handful of pumpkin seeds which she promptly dumped onto Ruby's head. She was rewarded with joyous laughter, and this time not even Weiss could hide her smile.

"Honestly. You're such a dolt..." she muttered before taking her leave for the bathroom.

Ruby watched her go before letting out a satisfied yawn. "Well, I'm gonna go grab something to eat."

"Looking like that?" Yang asked.

"I'm sure the rest of the students look the same way," her younger sister reasoned.

"I guess you're right. You coming, Blakey?" Yang stood and offered her palm to Blake, pulling her to her feet.

Ruby exited the room first, a bubbly aura wafting off every fiber of her being. Yang and Blake followed behind a pace or two. Yang ducked her head down a little as Blake motioned to her.

"Weiss' pumpkin," Blake murmured to her partner. "Wasn't that...?"

"Yep! It sure was!" Yang was so amused that her face almost hurt from smiling. "A rose!"

A/N: I tried to make this a nice balance of humor and fluff. Hope it worked! I also found it amusing how Weiss' "honestly!" could have such a different meaning depending on the situation.

As an unimportant side note, I carved my own Halloween pumpkin today and ended up doing a Beowulf because of this haha. You can find a picture of it at hanasaku-shijin,tumblr,com/post/65446564016 if you make the commas periods.

Please review!