"Soooo…" Ruby drew out the word as she hung over the side of her bed in an attempt to get Weiss's attention. Naturally, she earned the usual glare that asked what was so important that she felt the need to interrupt her girlfriend's studies.
"Fine, what is it?" Weiss snapped after ending the staring contest that Ruby had gotten much better at over the past few months. "What is so important that you need to stare at me while I'm reading the notes for our exam on the fifteenth?"
"Well, you know what tomorrow is, right?" Ruby smiled as Weiss's resistance to having a conversation crumbled.
"It's the fourteenth, the day before the Grimm Studies test. The one worth half your grade." Weiss replied as she went back to her notes.
"Nope!" Weiss looked back at Ruby with concern as she feared she might have written the day down wrong. "I mean you're right, but that's not all that tomorrow is. Think!"
"Ruby, I'm in no mood to play these games when I still have eight chapters to go through before the test." Weiss responded. She realized she'd sounded harsher than she'd intended, so she took a deep breath to try again. "I'm sorry. What I meant was I'm still in study mode, so what is tomorrow, Ruby?"
"It's okay Snowflake." Ruby laughed and took the effort Weiss was making to be communicative as a good omen. "I was going to say that tomorrow's Saint Valentines day!"
"Oh, the one celebrating the martyr of Vale who was tied to a stake and fed to a Beowolf a few hundred years ago?" Weiss asked as she gave up on her notes until the end of the conversation. It was never easy to multitask anything if Ruby was involved. It was odd just how much she was able to keep her attention even through meaningless conversations.
"Uh… is that… actually what happened?" Ruby seemed to blanch at the thought. "Seems a bit brutal don't you think?"
"It was a public execution, Ruby." Weiss sighed. "You must have learned that in school."
"I… never paid attention, sorry." Ruby laughed a little as she shook her head to get her thoughts back on track. "Anyways, Valentines is said to be the most romantic day of the year, so I thought we could go out on a date? To Vale maybe?"
"First of all, how is the anniversary of a gory execution romantic? Second, if this is as popular a thing to do as you say, where would we even go? You know I'm not comfortable with us in public yet." Weiss knew the end of the second reason was pushing her luck as she had been getting very comfortable doing things like holding Ruby's hand or sharing a chaste kiss in public. She knew Ruby wanted more, but she could only acclimate herself so fast. "And lastly, we both have a test the next day, first thing in the morning. Our time would be better spent ensuring we know all the material."
"Oh…" Ruby deflated a little before forcing a smile back for Weiss's benefit. Weiss hadn't told Ruby that she could tell when she was faking, but she could officially say that she knew Ruby well enough to know when she'd said something wrong.
"Listen, how about…" Weiss trailed off for a second as she thought through all the things Ruby liked, and tried to find something that they could do together that wouldn't take too much time away from their studies. And that's when the idea hit her. "How about we have a study session like we used to at the beginning of the year?"
"But I don't need you to tutor me anymore, Weiss." Ruby pouted as she crossed her arms that had until now been hanging past her head to the ground. "I did good on the last few tests."
"You did well, and that's not what I meant." Weiss corrected the bad grammar, earning a small grin from Ruby's pout. "We'll exchange questions back and forth until we both feel like we know everything."
"And if we finish early we can go on a date?" Ruby asked with excitement at the possibility.
"If. Only if we finish early, yes. We can go on a date." Weiss sighed as her girlfriend flipped out of her bed and proceeded to tackle her against her pillows in a hug and an explosion of rose petals. Weiss felt the lips of her girlfriend meet the sensitive part of her neck and gasped as she realized what Ruby was doing. "G-get off me Ruby! You're going to wrinkle my skirt!"
Ruby just giggled as she rolled to the side and latched on to the heiress's waist.
"You can be such a pest some times." Weiss grumbled as she wrapped her arms around Ruby to return the embrace.
"But you like to cuddle." Ruby argued with a grin that told Weiss she knew she'd won the argument.
"It doesn't make you any less of a dolt." Weiss replied as she settled herself more comfortably on the bed, her notes forgotten in favor of the girl in her arms.
Weiss panted as she finished her sprint back from the airship. It was already half past eleven in the morning, but she knew her absence had been noticed by the missed call on her scroll. She only hoped Ruby wasn't worrying too much, even though it was her fault that Weiss hadn't been prepared for today.
She'd in fact been planning this day from almost two weeks previously, even though most of those plans had been tabled when an exam was scheduled the next day. But she still had the food arranged and now had a viable idea for the type of date they'd have. All that was left were the small details that she'd planned to do regardless of how the rest of the day went.
She arrived in the hall of her dorm and placed the long thin box in her hand on the ground, along with the card she'd written in. She checked the hall to make sure she'd have a clean getaway and knocked as she bolted to the doors leading to the stairs.
No sooner had she passed the door when a click sounded in the quiet hall indicating the opening of a door. Weiss waited a count of three, clutching her chest as she caught her breath. No sooner had she mentally counted three then a delighted squeal echoed down the hall. Weiss smiled and peeked around the corner to find Ruby now reading the poetic note that went along with the white rose that had been in the box.
Weiss smiled and walked down the stairs again, now heading to the library to prepare for their study-date. She'd wanted to keep her plans a surprise for Ruby, and was happy that it hadn't been too hard to convince the girl into them. The only thing left now was the main event, which was scheduled for one in the afternoon. It was time to put the supplies in her locker to good use.
"Sis, does this make me look too young?" Ruby asked for the fourth time to a now very bored Yang who was attempting not to fall asleep next to her partner who was taking a nap in the warm afternoon sun that fell across her bed. The two of them had returned from their morning classes just in time to find Ruby tearing the closet apart in search of something that simply didn't exist.
"It's cute, Ruby. But why are you putting so much effort into this? You're just going to study." Yang sighed as Ruby fretted with the innocent-looking, white blouse and the matching skirt that Weiss had gotten her a few shopping trips ago. Needless to say it hadn't exactly made it out of the closet since.
"Ugh. Of course it does!" Ruby groaned as she started rifling through some of the piles of clothing that she'd made. "Everything makes me look so much like a little girl!"
"Well, surprise!" Yang shouted, waking Blake who just rolled over after throwing her pillow at the brawler. "You are a little girl!"
"I'm sixteen, Yang! I don't want to look like a kid. I just want to look more mature!" Ruby pouted as she realized she'd tried on every outfit she owned. "I just don't wanna just be cute forever, I wanna be attractive!"
"Then let me help, okay?" Yang asked, noticing her sister's distress and shifting into her big sister mode. "I'll do your makeup, and then you can tell me if you still look like a little girl."
"Fine, but don't go crazy. I don't really like that stuff." Ruby admitted hesitantly. "It feels weird after a while."
"Come on, trust your big sis." Yang gave her a winning smile that seemed to do more harm than good.
"You'll look older so come to the dark side, she said. We have cookies, she said." Ruby grumbled under her breath as she let Yang guide her into the washroom.
"Are you surprised I was lying about the cookies?" Yang asked in response as she shut the door.
"Are you sure she'll even recognize me?" Ruby asked as Yang pushed her down the hall, carrying the bag full of her books and notes.
"Ruby, I told you already, I barely touched your face. I just added a couple accents to your eyes and lips." Yang sighed as she repeated herself for the third time on their walk to the library.
"But you did that thing with my hair-"
"You mean brush it?" Yang asked with a sigh. "Yes, fixed the mess that usually resides on the top of your skull. You could say that it was a bit hairy."
"Har har. But seriously, Yang. Maybe I should just go and wipe all this stuff off and change into my normal clothes." Ruby said as she once again tried to resist the hand that was firmly guiding her toward her study session with Weiss. "I mean she did say we'd be studying, but it doesn't mean she meant for it to be a date."
"Ruby, you two will be alone in one of the private study rooms for most of the afternoon and possibly evening." Yang stated, simply regurgitating the note Ruby had read to her earlier. "That's a date no matter what spin you put on it."
"If you say so…" Ruby mumbled and gave in as Yang brought her to a stop. She looked up from her fidgeting hands to the door to the library. She knew she shouldn't be nervous, having gone on quite a few dates with Weiss already, but this one seemed different. Or maybe it was all in her head.
"Will you be okay?" Yang asked, concern heavy in her voice. Her violet orbs met silver as Ruby slowly nodded in response.
"Yeah. Just nervous." Ruby admitted once again. "This is the first time I'm doing this valentines thing and I don't want to mess it up."
"Ruby, take it from me that you can only mess it up if you don't just do what you always do." Yang wrapped her sister in a hug as she slipped her bag over her shoulder. "Believe it or not Weiss does seem to actually like you. So as long as you show up, I'm sure everything will work out fine."
"Okay." Ruby nodded as she was released. She looked once more at Yang who nodded encouragingly. "Alright, time to study!"
"That's the spirit! Have fun sis!" Yang waved as Ruby opened the door and walked into the library, the abruptness of her entry drawing unhappy glares from others who were studying for the upcoming test. Yang started laughing as the door closed, and Ruby soon found herself standing outside the door of the private study room that was in the deepest and least disturbed part of the library.
It took a little bit of coaching, but she finally knocked and the door opened to her girlfriend. Simply the sight of the elegant, offset ponytail set Ruby's nerves at ease as she smiled at her girlfriend who also seemed to have donned slightly different makeup than usual.
"Hey Weiss." Ruby greeted as she closed the door behind her and dropped her book bag on the table.
"H-hey Ruby." Weiss greeted in return as she drank in the simple beauty of Ruby in the outfit she'd picked out weeks ago. She'd imagined Ruby looking quite good in it, but hadn't been prepared for the slight aging effect the small bits of makeup had on her. She looked good, and definitely not in the normal sense. Ruby was hot. Weiss felt the beginnings of a blush surface as she looked into waiting silver eyes. "You look beautiful. Did you do something with your makeup?"
"Yeah, Yang helped." Ruby shrugged as she looked down at her hands as a blush flared on her cheeks. "You look good too."
"Thank you." Weiss replied, realizing they were being overly formal with each other. She wondered for a moment whether it would have been better to just go to Vale on a date, but remembered why they were here. "Anyway, let's get started, shall we?"
"Sure." Ruby sat down in the extra large bean bag chair that dominated the corner of the space while Weiss brought her binder of notes over.
"Mind if I join you?" Weiss asked a slightly surprised Ruby who was quick to make room on the chair for the heiress. "So… what is the weakness of a Geist while it posseses a body?"
"Easy, it's the face. Or eye thing that's usually in the middle." Ruby replied with a laugh at the easy question.
"Good, here's your reward." Weiss smiled, knowing Ruby would get her question right.
"What do-mmmph" Ruby was cut off as Weiss kissed her. She felt the gentle prodding of her tongue and opened her mouth to reciprocate when Weiss backed off. Ruby took a moment to realize what had just happened, and found a hint of a taste that she was vaguely familiar with in her mouth. "Do you…"
"Answer the questions right and you'll find out." Weiss replied with a smirk as she prepared the next question that Ruby knew wouldn't be as easy. She was right. "Despite it's agility and strength, what is it that makes a Beringel so dangerous even to trained hunters?"
"It's endurance is outstanding, and it's eyesight is extremely sharp in comparison to other grimm." Ruby responded excitedly, already knowing she'd earned her next reward.
Weiss pulled away as she felt her cheeks start to take on some heat. She wanted to keep studying but even two questions in she found she'd rather do other things.
"I knew it, you have cookie flavored lip stick! My turn now!" Ruby announced, happy that Weiss had gone through the trouble to find such a strange lip stick just for her. "Since I'm guessing you know all the material, you should get a punishment for each answer you get wrong."
"I… suppose that's fair…." Weiss replied slowly, the glint in Ruby's eye not very calming as she looked up and down before looking around the room. "What do you want it to be?"
"Well…." Ruby trailed off as she dropped her gaze to her palms, a deep red engulfing her face. "Maybe that isn't such a good idea after all…"
"Ruby, we've been dating for months. I want you to know you should feel comfortable talking to me about anything." Weiss said as she gently placed her lips on Ruby's cheek.
"Okay… but don't feel that you have to agree." Ruby said quickly. "I thought that maybe… you have to do one thing I tell you to do for each wrong answer? As long as it doesn't make you too uncomfortable, of course."
"I… alright, but only if you do the same." Weiss fired back, expecting Ruby to refuse if it was fired back on her. "And we'll kiss for every five answers right in a row."
"Deal!" Ruby exclaimed the second Weiss finished her sentence. "Now, assuming the subject is an average human or faunus without an activated aura, how long does it take for Taijitu venom to run it's course?"
"It's…" Weiss stumbled as she thought back to the notes she'd taken. Nowhere had she seen anything about venom, but Ruby wouldn't try to trick her, right? "A few hours?"
"Bzzt! Wrong! There is no venom!" Ruby announced happily as she sprang to the door to lock it and back to the chair. "I'll take a piece of clothing, please!"
Weiss slipped her jacket from her shoulders with a smirk at the disappointed look on Ruby's face. "If you're not going to play fair, then neither will I. What is the biological difference between an Ursa and and Ursa Major?"
"Uh…" Ruby hesitated, wondering if it was a loaded question. She decided it was a safe bet and responded with confidence she didn't feel. "Nothing, they're the same."
"Wrong. Ursi grow to have one extra toe and claw on each rear foot for assistance in balancing." Weiss replied with a wave of her wrist at Ruby's body, indicating a reciprocated punishment.
"Here." Ruby handed Weiss a shoe and smirked at the look of disappointment that flashed across her face. "Now it's my turn…"
"R-Ruby stop…" Weiss gasped as Ruby nibbled at her ear. They'd both answered their twentieth question in a row correctly and had now been kissing for the last ten minutes in nothing but their skirts and bras. Something Weiss was all to aware of as the bean bag chair pressed them together. She felt Ruby's hand pressing against her stomach, her fingers resting on the curve of her musculature as much for support as for the invading sensation that Weiss had admitted to enjoying during their last such encounter. Weiss's own hands curled around the edge of the chair as per the last punishment Ruby'd given her. "S-stop…"
"Come on Weiss, it's just a little bit of kissing!" Ruby complained as she pushed herself away from Weiss's neck.
"Nothing is ever just a little with you." Weiss replied as she attempted to gather herself. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying herself, but this definitely wasn't the place she wanted to lose control of her actions. "But I was going to suggest we end the game and pack up. It is getting late after all."
Ruby looked to the clock on the wall and jumped up when she realized it was already well past eleven. "Right, we have the test at nine, so we need to get up by eight at the latest."
"Thanks, Ruby." Weiss sighed with a smile as she joined Ruby on her feet and wrapped her in a hug.
"What for?" Ruby asked in confusion as she returned the unexpected hug.
"For being you, and for a good first Valentines." Weiss replied as she tucked her head into Ruby's collar to hide the blush she felt resurfacing. "And agreeing to study with me instead of some fancy date in Vale."
"It wouldn't be much fun if it was just me." Ruby replied with a giggle. "And I had lots of fun here. We should do it again some time."
"Maybe. I did like that Pocky snack you brought." Weiss said as she released Ruby and handed her the shirt she'd taken and Ruby replied by returning Weiss's.
"Yeah, that was a pretty good idea wasn't it?" Ruby smiled at the memory of Weiss's chocolate covered lips meeting hers after getting a question right.
They finished swapping clothing and cleaned up their study area so no evidence of their date remained before they left. The couple walked arm in arm back to their dorm in a peaceful silence. Neither had much to say after such a loving date, and were both content to delve into their own thoughts as their day quickly came to a close. But as they entered the last hallway, Ruby broke the silence.
"Hey Weiss?"
"Yes, Ruby?" Weiss responded after the moment it took to come back out of her thoughts.
"Can we maybe cuddle tonight?" Ruby asked hopefully, knowing that although Weiss had allowed them to share a bed when Ruby had one of her nightmares, it didn't mean she'd allow such a thing normally. But maybe tonight would be the next step in their relationship. "Like the whole time? Not just if I wake up from a nightmare?"
Weiss hesitated in answering, searching her feelings and feeling out any warnings that might be present. But it all came down to a surprisingly simple fact. She trusted Ruby. "Yes, I think I'd like that. As long as cuddling is as far as it goes."
"Deal!" Ruby smiled happily as she reached the door and opened it to find Yang and Blake both asleep on their beds. She led Weiss into the room and closed the door before dropping the bag she was carrying next to the desk. She felt the stickiness on the back of her neck from the sweat that had accumulated while making out in a room with bad ventilation, and smirked at Weiss knowing that she was probably no better.
"What?" Weiss asked in a whisper.
"Do you want to shower first? Or should I?" Ruby asked, pausing to allow Weiss a moment to think about her choices. "Or should we do it together?"
"Absolutely not!" Weiss hissed loudly, making Blake grumble and roll over as Ruby broke into silent giggles. "You know I'm not ready for something like that you dolt!"
"Weiss, I'm only teasing you." Ruby replied with a mock pout, knowing Weiss was always weak to her when she did it properly. "I'm not either."
"Fine, you're forgiven, now just hurry up and get ready for bed. Cuddling only works if you're there too." Weiss hissed impatiently, grabbing her nightgown and heading to the washroom. Ruby waited and rushed in as soon as Weiss exited, eager to get into her girlfriends bed for the first time that didn't involve her waking up in tears.
She returned to find Weiss already tucked under the covers, but awake and waiting.
"Goodnight Weiss, thanks for a good date. I love you." Ruby whispered, her now minty breath wafting into Weiss's face as Weiss gently gave Ruby a kiss in response.
"I love you too, dolt." Weiss replied once she broke the kiss.
The two shifted into a more comfortable position, dreading the teasing from Yang which would inevitably follow, but reveling in the success of their first Valentines day together as a couple.
A/N:
So first of all, happy Valentines day, and thanks for reading!
For those of you following my other stories, I feel like I have to give you an update on how those updates are coming: they're not. At least, not right now.
My classes this semester are demanding almost all my time to the extent that I was barely able to fit this story in, meaning that all my other stories will have to wait until I have time to return to writing and editing. My best guess is around mid March to the end of April, but I can't guarantee anything right now. I can promise that I will return from this (mostly) on and off hiatus soon.
So until next time,
Your Valentine,
Spat915