AN: This is honestly one of my favorite AU ideas.
Disclaimer: SU is not mine.
Ruby walked by the flower shop, carefully deciding which one she wanted before she was promptly interrupted.
"You've stolen my flowers before, lady. If your date isn't cute enough to warrant flower theft then I'll just have to call the police."
Ruby gulps when she hears this, glancing at the store's front door where a - beautiful - blue-eyed woman was staring directly at her. Flushing, Ruby considers just running away.
Seemingly sensing this, the girl grabs one of Ruby's hands. She locks the door with her other hand and promptly gestures to her flowers. "Pick one, and let's go."
The woman clearly sees no problem with Ruby being seen by her 'date' holding hands with another woman, but she is also partially relieved to know that she isn't actually going on a date.
Suddenly she wonders how she's going to break it to this woman that she is not, in fact, going on a date. Rather, Ruby was headed to the cemetery, bringing a single rose as she usually does every other week or so to mourn her friend.
Ruby picks a single, pink this time, rose out of the many flowers and starts to walk along the boardwalk.
She glances shyly at the other woman who appears to be staring straight ahead, as if she were looking for where Ruby was planning on going.
"You know, you could just pay for them. It's just one flower, so it wouldn't cost too much."
Ruby blushed again, ashamed at stealing but even more so for finally being caught. "I know." She whispers quietly.
"Is your date even all that pretty?"
"Ah- well, um, you see... S-she... It's not exactly a date."
"Oh? You swing that way?" The woman asks, before Ruby can continue.
"Um, well, yes, but the person we're going to see... Um... Isn't exactly... Alive anymore?" The way Ruby hesitates makes the statement a question.
"You've been stealing my flowers and taking them to someone's grave?" The girl looks affronted.
"Yes? You have the nicest roses."
"Was that like, her favorite flower or something?"
"Yes, but her name was also Rose." Ruby looks down, roughly rubbing her eyes with her free hand.
"Names, huh? I haven't even given you mine. I'm Sapphire. And you?"
"Ruby. It's, uh, nice to meet you?"
"Hmm... Maybe. Tell me more about your friend."
"Um, well... She was very pretty. She had the sweetest boyfriend ever and wanted to give him the world. So, when he said he had always thought about having children, she immediately jumped on the wagon. We told her not to- she... Had always had problems, from when she was a child. There was... An accident... During the birth. She- didn't make it." Ruby rubbed at her eyes again.
"Her son, Steven. Sweetest kid you'll ever meet. To her, I'm sure he was totally worth it. And he has his dad and our friends and myself to look after him, so hopefully he'll be alright."
"I'm sorry. She sounds like a nice person." Sapphire said, loosening her grip on Ruby's hand just slightly, her gait faltering at Ruby's words.
"She was. A truly amazing friend. She helped me out of a tight spot once, when my parents weren't being the kindest to me."
Sapphire hummed in reply, as they finally arrived at the graveyard. Ruby tugged her hand and led her through towards a certain grave. Ruby kneeled in front of it.
"H-hey Rose." She was starting to get choked up again, and took a deep breath before continuing. "I really miss you. This girl is Sapphire. I know you'd be angry at me, and touched at the same time, but... I've kinda been stealing her flowers to leave here for you. Sorry. Um... Steven's doing pretty well. He just said his first word a while ago- food -you probably would've laughed and been just as excited as everyone else. Greg's doing pretty well. He's been busy with your baby, so he hasn't been able to visit. He sends his regards, though."
Ruby wiped at her nose and set the rose down lightly. She stood up and turned around, now noticing Sapphire, who was standing behind her.
"Do you... Want to grab a cup of coffee?" She asked, tentatively. "Probably a weird time to ask you out, but, I, um, think... You're kind of cute?"
Sapphire giggles at the complement. "So maybe it wasn't my flowers that were so pretty?"
Ruby blushes slightly, her ears burning.
She took off briskly out of the graveyard, and Sapphire laughs lightly as she jogs to catch up. "You don't like people teasing you much, do you?"
"Not at all." Ruby replies. "Even though one of my friends is almost always roasting me, I get embarrassed kind of easily. I'd rather just walk away than picks fight with you though. I'm also quick to anger and I did kind of just ask you out."
Sapphire takes one more glance behind them before turning her attention back to Ruby, smiling slightly. "What brought this on, anyways? How would you even know if I was gay or not?"
She blushed, a lot harder this time. "I might go into your flower shop when you aren't working and ask your employees about you."
"That's so sweet!" Sapphire paused for a moment, reclaiming Ruby's hand as she continued. "If a bit stalker-ish."
Ruby chuckled nervously. "Yeah, well, I've always been kinda awkward."
She pulled them toward a coffeeshop-bookstore fusion, asking Sapphire, "What would you like? I can order while you find us seats."
"An earl gray tea would be nice." Sapphire replies quietly, suddenly rather shy as their hands come apart once more.
Ruby nodded and smiled, and as she got into the short line Sapphire chose a table near the windows, watching the skies as they got progressively darker, threatening rain.
"Here you are!" Ruby said, tearing Sapphire's gaze away from the window and into Ruby's chocolate-y brown eyes, a deep warmth coming from her general person.
"Thank you." Sapphire replies calmly, suddenly realizing that she'd gotten rather cold. "This doesn't make up for the flowers, though."
Ruby hesitated, biting her lip. "I'm sorry... Again. I really did mean it before. You grow the best flowers in town. Far prettier than any others I've seen."
Sapphire hummed. "I'm glad to see that even thieves can appreciate their beauty."
Ruby nodded, and ducked her head. "Thanks for everything... All the flowers." She wrote down something on a napkin, pushed it over to Sapphire's side of the table, and stood up. "I've got to go. It was nice talking to you. Maybe we could do this again sometime."
Sapphire giggled at the cliché words but said goodbye anyways. "Thanks. Hopefully I'll see you again. Just not stealing my flowers."
Sapphire glanced at the note, and was pleased to see a phone number.
Ruby continued to come to Sapphire's flower shop, but she actually went inside and talked to Sapphire and paid for the flowers she took.
She asked Sapphire about her favorite flower, and what it meant in flower language (which she hadn't even known about until Sapphire told her what a pink rose meant) and continued to complement her flower growing abilities.
At first, it was every other weekend, Ruby coming in and buying a different flower every time.
Then it was every week, the brown-eyed woman constantly curious about the different types of flowers Sapphire grew and the different meanings behind them all.
After a while they drifted from the topic of flowers altogether and talked about themselves.
Ruby began to come to the shop every other day or so, smiling happily whenever she saw Sapphire.
She started to talk to one of her friends about her and got some pretty solid advice.
"You've been buying a flower every time, right?" Amethyst asked, the white-haired girl oddly focused. "And you've only been on the one date? Well, ask her out again, putting all the flowers you've bought into a bouquet. Maybe even ask her to be your girlfriend. Isn't it some kind of stereotype that lesbians move really fast in their relationships?"
"That's... Not actually a bad idea. Even though the stereotype is kind of offensive. Thank you, Ame." Ruby replied fondly.
"'Course, Rubes, anything for you. And hey, check it out, I caught Steven's first steps on my phone."
"What?! No way!"
Sapphire sighed once more. It had been nearly a week since Ruby had last visited, and she was missing the fierce woman's company. It was extremely boring without her constant queries and her trying fruitlessly to learn what certain types of flowers were called.
It was strangely endearing, and Sapphire missed it.
She was just about to lock up for the night when she saw someone run into the shop, breathless. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be Ruby.
"Whew! I'm not too late! Sapphire. I'm so happy you're working tonight, I need to ask you something."
"W-what is it?" The blue-eyed woman asked, suddenly flustered.
Ruby handed Sapphire a bouquet. The oldest flower was in the dead center. "These are all the flowers I ever bought from you... And one that I didn't." Sapphire suddenly noticed the pink rose in the middle. Or what remained of it. It had to be at least 3 months old and... Was that why Ruby had been running so hard? "I wanted to ask you out again. And ask if you'd like to date more than just casually? Like... As girlfriends?"
Ruby bit her lip in nervousness, beginning to fidget when Sapphire didn't answer right away. Then, the flowers were set gently on the counter and Sapphire's lips were pressing gently against Ruby's.
Even though the contact lasted less than a second, Ruby whooped in excitement and then stage-whispered, "I wasn't sure if you'd say yes."
AN: Hope you all enjoyed. Sorry if this is a little short, but it was a serious one-shot that wouldn't get out of my head, and if the Ruby and Sapphire seem a bit OOC, I've kind of just always imagined them as a odd combo of adorable and nervous around each other. I'm considering making more one-shots so if you guys would like to see more of these I would be happy to oblige.
I'll always accept more prompts for one-shot ideas, ships or non-ships as long as they aren't too crazy or bizarre.
Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think.