Despite the wind-driven sleet and churned mud roads, Vale winters still had nothing on the skin-peeling blizzards that were the norm in Atlas. Of course, all things were relative-Weiss supposed she could admit she was feeling rather miserable, the wind cutting through her fur-lined coat like it was practically nothing, her gloved fingers frozen, her body so stiff from the cold it ached as she forced herself on.
The crick in her neck and the rest of her varying aches and pains were just a part of life, however. She and Ruby had been wandering the length of Sanus on foot, carrying nothing but their bags and their weapons, just a travelling pair of huntresses cleaning up the remains of Salem's brood.
No matter how miserable she felt physically, no matter how low their funds were, or how far away their next contract was...
At least the company was agreeable.
The town they'd found themselves wandering was in northern Sanus, a week's trek from Mountain Glenn, just a minor stop-over along the arterial road to the Argent Coast. Leading the way as usual, Ruby kept to the side of the muddy road, her hood drawn against the wind, a careful eye kept on the flow of traffic and people.
People-refugees and resettlers alike-were moving throughout Remnant these days, made brave by the fall of Salem and seized by new opportunity. They felt safe despite the lingering threat of the remaining Grimm, and a part of Weiss had to smile.
Ahead of her, Ruby paused, her head still bowed over the contract they'd picked up from the hunter encampment at Vale's border. Weiss closed the distance between them, and as dearly as she loved Ruby, she also knew how unwise it was to trust her with navigations. Not that Weiss was much better, but every hour they delayed was another chance for their contract to evaporate before they could claim it, taken out by more of the mercenaries growing more and more common.
"Are we lost again?" she asked, trying not to let the frustration touch her voice as she watched Ruby turn the attached map in her hands this way and that.
Ruby heaved a sigh, the wind blowing the map back in her hands.
"I think we're going the right way," she said, pulling an apologetic face as she looked across at Weiss. "...probably."
Of course, Weiss thought, pinching the bridge of her nose between her gloved thumb and forefinger, before saying aloud, "You don't exactly ease my worries when you phrase things in such a manner."
"Why don't you take a look then?"
Scowling, Weiss leaned into Ruby's side, trying to get a closer look at the contract. She may have had a slight ulterior motive in getting closer, however, and greedily she soaked up the warmth radiating from Ruby's body.
Ruby didn't relinquish the paper as Weiss reached across, simply holding it up so the both of them could study it. The soft touch of Ruby's hand to the small of her back was enough to make Weiss jump, her heart lurching sideways in her chest. Even after all these months together, the smallest gestures were still the ones that stole her breath away. For one seemingly infinite moment, all of Remnant ceased to exist but for the soft pressure of Ruby's touch.
"Thoughts?" she heard Ruby venture, her lips close to Weiss' ear so the wind wouldn't carry her words away.
Weiss felt her face grow hot from the proximity, and she swallowed.
"I-I mean, you're correct and we are going the right direction," Weiss managed, her words a graceless flood. "We should be there in the next day or so. Perhaps by nightfall, if we think we can secure transport."
Never fooled by her uncomfortable bluster, Ruby frowned, studying Weiss' expression for an instant before her lips curved, her smile wolfish. It was probably entirely inappropriate that Weiss kept staring at those lips, imaging the way they felt and tasted and-
"Weiss?"
She tore her gaze away from Ruby's lips, meeting her gaze with a guilty rush.
Her silver eyes steady, Ruby reached out, grasping Weiss' hand in her own. She brought it to her lips, kissing the back of Weiss' leather-gloved knuckles, her smile disarming and sweet.
"Relax a little, just for today?"
Weiss cleared her throat, a vain attempt to regain a shred of composure. "Of course. We really should get moving."
Ruby didn't release Weiss' hand, however, as she carefully tucked the contract away into her belt. With a roll of her shoulders and a heft of her duffle bag, she glanced about the town, shivering a touch too dramatically to be anything but a play for Weiss' sympathy.
"C'mon, I think I see an inn up ahead. I'd kill to take a break somewhere warm." Ruby tugged on Weiss' hand, her smile growing and her silver eyes dancing. "Unlike some people, I wasn't born in an ice field."
"You really know nothing about Atlas, don't you?" Weiss retorted, tugging her scarf higher about her mouth and nose, the vivid red wool a reminder of both her grandfather and Ruby's obnoxious chosen colour. It served its purpose and hid her smile well enough, though the self-satisfied tilt to Ruby's own lips told her it wasn't entirely successful.
"I don't need to know Atlas," Ruby's tone was deceptively sweet as she added, "I know you and your freezing cold hands."
Laughing, Weiss allowed herself to be led forward, one step at a time.
The town's inn was quiet at this time of the day, caught between lunch hours and the dinner rush. Of course, that hardly meant the place was deserted. Her eyes slowly adjusting to the poor lighting, Weiss could pick out what were probably the inn's usual fixtures-a couple of regulars passed out in the corner, a table of old ladies playing bridge up near the bar.
Ruby waved to the bartender as they made their way inside, a severe-looking woman that Weiss would have bet real lien on being the owner of the seedy establishment. She eyed them off, her gaze lingering on the Schnee sigil stitched into the back of Weiss' coat.
Immediately, she felt on edge, wondering for a long moment if they were going to have a problem.
Ruby still hadn't seen fit to allow Weiss to have her hand back, however, so she had little choice but to allow herself to be pulled along at the whim of her partner. Ruby's expression brightened as she spotted some booths up the back of the building, and she wasted no time asking for an opinion before heading over.
She dropped her bags to the side with a thud-loud enough to partially rouse a rough-looking man from his drunken slumber, Weiss noted with a wince-before placing Crescent Rose's folded form on top of them with much more care.
Flashing Weiss a smile, Ruby nodded toward the woman at the counter, still watching them both warily.
"Be right back!"
Weiss sighed, and far too conscious of the quiet and the Schnee family crest on her back, she tucked her own bag in under the table. She leaned Myrtenaster against the side of the booth, ensuring it was visible to anyone sizing her up for a fight. It wasn't anything as barbaric as an overt threat, but it was a warning all the same.
It felt like all eyes were on her, and despite knowing objectively it was her imagination, Weiss shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. Now, more than ever, her family name carried impossible weight along with it-just of an entirely different kind than she'd been so suffocated by as heiress.
Everyone had seen her father's true face, reflected in perfect mirror by the actions of what had become of her grandfather's company, his impossible thirst for profit playing so easily into Salem's hands. The world itself had been driven to its knees with his weapons, his hubris, his greed, and it was... difficult.
Despite the fact that Weiss had been a part of the team that had finally ended things, saved the whole world, things in real life weren't that easy. All any of these people understood was that the Schnee snowflake had driven nations to their knees, as simple as that.
That was why Weiss was pushing herself so hard. If she could just do something more, make a difference where she could, she could slowly reclaim her grandfather's name, atone for the sins of her father. It would definitely make her feel a whole lot better about what had happened.
She couldn't help but feel a little bitter-even though he was long dead, just how long would his shadow still dictate the terms of her life?
"Remnant to Weiss," Ruby said, waving a hand in front of Weiss' face, snapping her from her reverie with practiced ease.
"Sorry. I was just..."
"We both lived with Blake, Weiss. I do know what brooding looks like." Ruby set a pair of mugs on the scarred old table with a thud, before taking the seat across from Weiss and leaning her chin on the palm of her hand. "That's why this inn has been declared a no-brooding zone!"
"You can't make that call," Weiss told her with a frown, and Ruby offered an exaggerated, lazy sort of shrug as she picked her mug up by its decidedly non-circular rim.
"As the ex-leader of Team RWBY, I can make whatever calls I like," Ruby said, laughing and burying her nose in her mug. She shivered again with the whole of her body, and Weiss felt a knee press up between her own, seeking heat.
Taking the hint, Weiss brought the mug to her face. The liquid inside was steaming, and suspicious, Weiss sniffed at it. Spices, she noted. Honey. An attempt to disguise cheap, bitter wine. The metal of the mug was hot, however, sending tingles through her fingers, and she stripped her gloves off to press her bare palms to the sides.
She hadn't realised how deep the cold had gone, and admittedly she was glad Ruby had gotten her way. A break, even a short one, would do them both a bit of good.
No matter how many suspicious looks we earn ourselves, Weiss added, just a little sourly.
"So this place is..." Ruby trailed off.
"Seedy?" Weiss supplied with a narrow glance around the establishment, fully aware that the answer had been baited but not caring in the least.
"Beats lunch out in the rain." Ruby shivered again, and beneath the table, she drew small, artless circles against the top of Weiss' thigh. She leaned on her elbow, her chin still in her hand and her smile teasing. "I appreciate you sacrificing your standards enough to accept a little shelter."
Weiss snorted beneath her breath, unamused, but she tangled her bare fingers with Ruby's beneath the table.
"I suppose it was a good idea."
That smile of Ruby's widened. "I really thought for sure you'd make us keep walking. I'm so glad you didn't."
Weiss took a slow, experimental sip of the warmed wine, making a face as bitter tannins warred with too much honey on her tongue. "Need I remind you it was you who wanted to traverse this continent on foot?"
Ruby sighed, deep and entirely too put-upon. "Train tickets cost money! And what was it we learned about money?"
"Don't patronise me." Weiss couldn't keep the sourness from her tone, but as Ruby giggled, she relented with, "I only spent all of our money once."
"On a single meal, Weiss." Ruby shifted and reached out, her bare fingertips warm as she brushed Weiss' bangs away from her eyes. "We ate those stale protein bars for two weeks."
"Don't remind me," Weiss groaned, but despite her poor opinion on the inconvenient facts Ruby was dredging up, she leaned into Ruby's gloved palm, pacified by the tiny circles being drawn against her temple.
God. It was so hard to stay offended.
To her left, she heard someone clear their throat, and she rocked back and away from Ruby's hand, colouring dramatically. Entirely too amused to be professional, the waitress shot Ruby smile as she set the plates down, Weiss too busy burying her face in her mug of wine instead of daring to look at either of them.
Ruby's leg was still threaded between her own, warm and solid and strong, even now it was incredibly difficult not to think of them wrapped about her hips, hot lips at her throat, ragged gasps for air against her skin. Paranoid, Weiss adjusted the scarf, just in case, and when she looked up, Ruby was watching her.
"Afraid people are gonna see the marks?"
Weiss made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. "You shouldn't have left them in the first place."
"Still not gonna apologise." Ruby reached out, pulling the scarf down just enough to see the worst of them, her smile turning smug. "I like them."
Weiss grumbled under her breath, pulling it back to its place the moment Ruby released it to begin on her food. The inn's cheapest meal was a mess of meat, root vegetables and gravy, and despite the low quality of the meat, it was heavy food. Far heavier than the meals Weiss has grown up with in the manor-but these days she could hardly get away with just a salad or an apple.
After the first time she'd nearly passed out on her trip from Atlas to Mistral, she'd learned that lesson the hard way.
Ruby's knee remained between Weiss' own, however, and between that and the warmth from the food and wine, Weiss felt the coldness slowly thaw from her body. It was nice-Ruby filled the silence with an endless flow of chatter, talking about everything from the maintenance to be undertaken on Crescent Rose to the crackpot Dust ideas she had for her elemental ammunitions.
Weiss didn't argue beyond a token assertion it really, truly wouldn't work and she'd end up blowing them both up, absorbed by her partner's animated expressions. She let her hand wander beneath the table again, tracing the narrow band of skin exposed between Ruby's thigh-highs and skirt, seeking out old scars and newer scratches with absent familiarity.
"Weiss?"
She blinked, confused for all the space of a moment, and then she froze.
Caught in the act, she realised, the thought strangled, but before she could withdraw to a safe distance, Ruby's hand clasped her own beneath the table, the palm of her fingerless gloves rough, the leather cracked and warmed.
"Oh my god, please don't look so panicked," Ruby told her, soft and frustrated. She shifted, and it was completely beyond Weiss to ignore the way it she'd leaned in far too closely, her hand still firm about Weiss' wrist as she added, "And... maybe I don't want you to stop?"
Weiss swallowed, her mouth parched, and her fingers twisted in Ruby's skirt.
"I... Here?" Her mind almost completely blanked at the idea.
God, she was every kind of lovesick idiot Yang used to make fun of in Blake's trashy novels. The insistent part of her brain reminded her, Ruby had liked those awful things too and-
"How do you feel about sleeping in a bed for a change?"
Weiss frowned, jolted from the hot chaos of her thoughts as she said, "Weren't you the one lecturing me on money?"
"We have enough for this!" Ruby shrugged, playing it far too casual for Weiss to buy as anything but an act. An attractive, highly convincing act that her heart seemed all too willing to fall for, no matter how her brain screamed for caution.
"We should really keep moving," Weiss said, a little uneven. She doubted she could have convinced even the most gullible child with such a weak protest.
Ruby leaned in a little further, and Weiss' spine hit the padded back of the booth, cutting off the easiest means of escape. Ruby's lips were curved in that mischievous grin, and had it suddenly grown to a hundred degrees in here?
"We have a contract we need to uphold." Weiss wet her lips. "Fighting..."
Whatever details Weiss had been trying to recall fled her grasp, the thread of her thoughts unravelling immediately as Ruby shifted again, adjusting her weight so she could reach out. Her knuckles brushed Weiss' cheek, gentle and leading.
"Fighting...?" Ruby prompted.
"This is unfair," Weiss accused her, her voice hoarse. "You know exactly what you're doing."
"Yeah," Ruby replied with a smile, flushed and unguarded and delighted, and it was that expression that was Weiss' final undoing.
How has she ever lived without this in her life, someone who is all joy and honesty and unreserved adoration? Closing the distance between them, Weiss finally kissed her, the hot embers buried in the pit of her stomach igniting at the pleased hum Ruby made in her throat.
"Feel like going upstairs?" Ruby asked softly, pulling back just a little to rest her forehead against Weiss'.
Entirely speechless for once, all Weiss could do was nod.
They gathered their things quickly, and in hindsight perhaps Weiss should have been suspicious of Ruby's intentions when she'd lingered by the bar as long as she had. Weiss had been distracted, too absorbed in her own troubles, so when Ruby waved to the innkeep and caught the keys, she knew Ruby had already paid.
That was a little odd. Ruby had always been the most careful of the two of them with their funds, preferring to sleep in a tree than fork out the extra lien for a roof over their heads. Weiss had come to accept over the months, so this...
Ruby beamed at her, and Weiss' thoughts of interrogation stuttered to an unceremonious halt as she scrambled to return the expression. How exactly could she stay suspicious when Ruby was giving her a look like that?
Appreciative, Weiss allowed herself the luxury of letting her gaze linger, watching Ruby heft her bags onto her shoulder and up the stairs, on the strength of her arms beneath her fur-lined jacket.
They almost-almost-made it to their room before Ruby turned, grasping Weiss by the lapels, her mouth hard and hot and demanding every shred of affection and attention she could muster. Reeling, Weiss gave it all and then more, pushing Ruby back into the hideous wallpaper just to hear her exhale from the impact.
Ruby didn't let go, her grip like iron and twisting in Weiss' collar as she tugged down the scarf, her lips finding their way to that damnable spot just below Weiss' ear that shorted her brain out every time-
Weiss pulled away, looking from her flushed, dishevelled partner and down to the bedroom door, then back again. Ruby grabbed her hand, bringing it to her lips again and again, tugging her along until they got to the door.
She watched Ruby turn then, fumbling with the keys for a moment before opening the door. Weiss was about to follow her inside when suddenly, Ruby paused.
"I don't suppose you'd mind picking up a few things for me?"
Weiss' brain stuttered to a halt, and for a long moment, she stared across at Ruby without a hint of comprehension. Picking... up... things? Those words were meant to make sense, she knew it for a fact, but contextually they might have been another language entirely. Ruby returned her bewildered expression with a bright smile, rocking forward on her toes.
"I have this list, you see. Sorta actually kinda important now that I think about it and-"
"Oh. Of... of course." Weiss swallowed thickly, and the heat between her thighs was nigh unbearable. She still wasn't quite sure how she'd gotten to this point. Numbly, she watched Ruby dig around in her skirt pockets before producing a balled up scrap of paper.
"This one," Ruby said, passing it across to her. Weiss accepted it without reading, feeling like she'd been shaken awake from some wonderful dream.
"Come back soon?"
Weiss was still struggling to gather enough brainpower to form a coherent sentence when Ruby closed the door in her face, her ardour finally dying a terrible, terrible death.
What?
The weather outside was even less appealing than it had been earlier, a miserable grey drizzle shrouding the town. At least it had done her the favour of driving most travellers and townsfolk indoors, only the endless stream of hovers from Vale still persisting.
Weiss pulled her scarf about her mouth a little higher, tucking her gloved hands inside her coat pockets and huddling deeper into its fur. She was glad she was no longer in the habit of wearing skirts, for all that she appreciated Ruby's insistence on wearing them.
Normally, anyway, the pit of Weiss' stomach disagreed with a forlorn, insistent ache. She would have killed to have had Ruby with her, instead of having been sent out like some sort of errand girl while her partner got to clean up and dry off.
What had that all been about, anyway?
Grumbling, Weiss set about resupplying their meagre stores without needing to consider the list she'd been given. It was a slow effort. While the town was little more than a pitstop on the way to the Argent Coast, it was a popular one, and many of the items they needed were low in stock and high in demand.
As Weiss examined the vials in the single, solitary Dust shop the town had to offer, even she knew enough to appreciate how absurdly overpriced it all was. The shop's attendant gave her only an initial greeting, any offers of assistance fading away when he recognised the sigil on her back.
From that point on, he'd stared at her, as if terrified she'd summon a host of spectres to carry him off into the rain.
These people are getting more and more ridiculous, Weiss had thought with a bitter twist to her lips. Perhaps everything with Ruby had thrown her off, because she was even more irritable toward such attitudes than usual.
Besides, even the most casual Dust user could see the impurities in both the uncut crystals and refined powders. Weiss left without buying anything, moving on to the next thing on the list.
If they were truly desperate for Dust, they could probably hunt down a few of Sanus' naturally occurring veins of Dust, she supposed. That would take yet more time, draw the attention of larger Grimm, and the refinement process could be charitably described as 'highly inconvenient'.
Irritable, she trudged through the rain to the next store. Food was next, and privately she hoped that her partner had forgone adding those damnable protein bars to the list this time. Jokes were all well and good to make, but if Weiss ever saw one of those tasteless things again in her life, it would be far too soon.
The general store was just as picked-clean as all the others, and Weiss' heart sank a little as she surveyed the assortment of canned and dried food. None of it looked particularly inviting, and sighing, she dug about in her pocket, drawing out the balled-up remains of Ruby's list.
"Roses..." Weiss read aloud, and immediately, she frowned. "'Fancy' chocolate? She can't be serious, we're tight on funds and these are all..."
Weiss froze.
Luxury romance items.
A pit of pure horror yawned in the pit of her stomach, and the entire world seemed to fade into static as Weiss stared at the list. Frantic, she dug around in her pockets for her scroll, the device switched off to conserve power for emergencies only. She fumbled and nearly dropped it in her haste, and as she waited for the seeming eternity before it booted up, her thoughts raced.
This can't be happening, she told herself, again and again, but when she saw the date it was undeniable. In her distraction, her self-centred pursuit for personal redemption, she'd forgotten it entirely. Valentine's day.
Ruby had remembered, that was clear. Weiss' shoulders sagged as it put the entire day into sharp perspective. The smiles. The casual touches. The insistence on stopping and staying the night, and Weiss had grumbled through it all like some sort of spoiled brat who hadn't gotten her way. No wonder Ruby had-
Weiss forced herself to stop, taking a deep breath in the back of the store, the stares from the shopkeeper be damned.
Ruby wasn't like that. When she was upset, it was obvious even to a blind ursa. If anything, she'd sent Weiss out with this silly list to realise it on her own as a joke. She clearly hadn't been expecting Weiss to take it seriously, otherwise...
Weiss looked down at the list in her gloved hands again, a tiny smile curling the corner of her lips as she examined the increasingly extravagant demands Ruby had scrawled down. Perhaps she could begin to make up for her inexcusable inattention.
Turning on her heel, she left the general store, making her way back to the Dust shop.
"You," she told the Dust shop's assistant as she slipped inside. He stared at her, wide-eyed and intimidated, and for a moment she was almost positive he was going to flee. She held up a hand, all icy determination. "Please fetch your manager. We're going to work out a trade that, rest assured, will be mutually beneficial for all of us."
She smiled as he scrambled to fetch someone from the back of the store.
It was a start.
By the time Weiss made it back to the inn, the sun was setting and she was chilled to the bone. Her head and the back of her neck ached from leaning over equations the whole afternoon, but she was smiling. It had been a while since she'd been able to work with even a rudimentary Dust laboratory, and while there had been... challenges, she was satisfied.
Both with her work and with her purchases.
Humming just a little beneath her breath, she let the feeling of the innkeeper's sharp eyes roll off her shoulders as she made her way up the creaky inn stairs. She'd had a good day, all said and done, and she wasn't about to let anyone ruin it for her.
If anything, it was about to get even better.
Weiss only got half way to her second knock on door before it was yanked open, a flash of red and rose petals bursting forward to throw its arms about Weiss' neck in a full-body hug. Unprepared, Weiss staggered back half a step before she steadied, breathing in deep the scent of Ruby's shampoo.
"Oh my god," Ruby said, muffled against her throat. "I was actually worried I'd sent you off to get kidnapped or something!"
Weiss snorted, disgusted by the very idea as she ran her gloved fingers through Ruby's loose, dark hair. "As if kidnappers are a challenge."
Ruby groaned into the crook of her neck, low and agonised. "Why are you like this?"
"I could say the same for you." With some difficulty, given the overgrown child currently hanging from about her neck, Weiss was able to move forward enough to close the door behind them, letting her bag and purchases finally slide to the floor with a sigh. "You know, you could have mentioned what the date was."
"And give up having all this fun at your expense?" Ruby rocked back, straightening up to her full height, the palm of her hand against Weiss' cool cheek. She'd shed her cloak and jacket long ago, and despite the fact that she was down to her shirt sleeves, vest and skirt alone, her body radiated an addictive heat. "Let me have this one time. You're usually so good with dates!"
"Usually," Weiss agreed, the heat rising in her face as Ruby smiled down at her.
It was only after a long moment passed that Weiss sighed, relenting.
"Perhaps I was a little... over-focused on the task," she admitted, letting her head fall against Ruby's chest. "You know I've been working hard to bring the Schnee name out of disrepute."
"I know. But we're here to keep each other balanced, you know? You do it for me, and I do it for you." Ruby's voice was only slightly pained as she added, "Stubborn as you are."
Weiss still didn't know what she'd done to deserve her, and the swell of adoration in her chest was as dizzying as it was intense.
"And persistent as you are." Weiss leaned up, twisting her fingers in Ruby's loose shirt collar to tug her down and murmuring against her lips, "Hurry up and kiss me already."
"I kinda wonder if I've spoiled you rotten," Ruby laughed, but her smile faded into something more intense, something heated as her hands strayed to Weiss' hips, as she finally, finally obeyed.
Ruby's mouth was sweet, her kiss slow and lingering, still everything Weiss had ever dared dream of in the years they'd fought side by side. Her touch was careful, as reverently adoring now as she'd always been, the pressure of her hands at the small of Weiss' back pulling her close, lifting her off-balance so she had to grasp the back of Ruby's neck just to steady herself.
Weiss pulled back just a hair, exhaling shakily as Ruby pursued, kissing her again and again until she felt nearly lightheaded with it. Her pulse was pounding in ears as she tilted her chin, kissing Ruby again, deeper and losing its languidness at the first hint of Ruby's tongue against the curve of her lip.
Heat sparked in the pit of her stomach, the embers from that afternoon roaring back to life with a fierceness that would have been embarrassing, had she not been so completely affection-starved. Even then, it was only here, only now. Only with Ruby.
Ruby withdrew, her cheeks flushed, her silver eyes hot as she studied Weiss' face, a hint of shyness to her smile even after all these months. Weiss kissed her, again and again, pulling at Ruby's shirt with insistent hands, until that timidness had faded and Ruby was fumbling with the buttons on Weiss' jacket.
Better, Weiss couldn't help but think, pushing Ruby back toward the bed.
Some indeterminate amount of time after... everything, they lay sprawled in bed, entwined so tightly that in the hazy light, Weiss couldn't quite tell where she ended and Ruby began, replete and exhausted. Her hands still trembling slightly, she threaded her fingers through Ruby's dark hair.
"So totally worth the price of the night," Ruby told her with a small laugh, turning her lips to press against the hollow of Weiss' jaw, her kiss clinging with just a hint of tongue.
Weiss twitched at the sensation, but with one arm conveniently trapped beneath Ruby's side, she wasn't going to escape the attention so easily. With an effort, she managed, "Agreed. When was the last time we slept... in a bed?"
Ruby paused, pulling back to consider. "If moss doesn't count, it was probably the night we left Patch. Before we were a thing. So I guess this is the first time we've... uh... done this in a bed."
"You're terrible." Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you didn't call it frick-frak again."
"I might have thought about it."
Weiss felt her lips quirk at the response, and they were silent for a long time, basking in the afterglow. Still somewhat spiteful-and in all likelihood, she always would be-Weiss couldn't quite help thinking to the dead spectre of her father, take that.
She could make it without him, his money, his control.
Ruby shifted, pressing one last kiss against Weiss' jaw, heaving a deep and satisfied sigh as she said, "Happy Valentine's day, Weiss."
Weiss glanced toward her bags, dropped by the door all thanks to the too-effective distraction that was her partner. She'd spent the entire afternoon on Dust formulae, and for what? Just to forget about it all at the idea of getting laid? Really, she was supposed to be better than that.
"Oh. That reminds me." Reluctantly, she pulled away from Ruby's grasp, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Despite the rain on the window pane outside, the room was actually quite warm, and she didn't bother with a blanket as she rose. "That list of yours was actually quite detailed."
"I, uh... I suppose so?" Ruby sounded a little confused, propping herself up on her elbows as her gaze tracked Weiss through the room. "I guess I had enough time to think about it."
Weiss nodded to herself, unbuckling her bags and pulling out the packages she'd secured inside. Just a small pile, not nearly as many as she might have liked or Ruby deserved, but in this town her options had been limited. It was going to have to do.
"'Fancy chocolates', I believe you called them," Weiss told her dryly, setting the stack of them down on the bed. She couldn't help but feel a small amount of smugness as Ruby stared at the boxes of chocolates, probably doing the math in her head against their existing funds.
"Weiss, how much did this all cost?"
"I didn't spend all our money on it," Weiss said, waving a deliberately casual hand. Perhaps letting Ruby come to the wrong conclusion had been a little petty, but all was fair in love and war. "I simply offered my insights on Dust refinement and the Dust merchant was practically leaping to repay me. I must have quadrupled his efficiency with my suggestions."
Ruby gave a snort of laughter, her worry melting away as she rose, wrapping her arms about Weiss, strong and warm. "You're such a Dust nerd."
"I await the day that fails to surprise you so much."
Ruby dipped her head to kiss her, slow and languid. "Trust you to take a joke too seriously."
"Happy Valentine's day, Ruby." Weiss buried her face in Ruby's throat, breathing deeply. Her name and her father be damned, she had everything she could have ever dared dream of, right here, right now.
A/N: Valentine's Day fluff, just a little late! When Ruby is a smartass and Weiss is a nerd, everything is right in the world.
If you like my work, please feel free visit my tumblr "zerrat" or head on over to check out my other fanfic profile over at AO3, username "zerrat". There's quite a lot over there that I can't post on this site!
Thanks for reading, all.