Author's Note
Current timeline: 2, 8, 3, 1, 10, 5, 7, 6, 9, CS, 4.
Well, this thing finally got done. Actually probably came out faster than most chapters, but it still felt like quite a while. And the chapter ideas just keep piling up. Because of omgwtfdondake over on DeviantArt, expect a Bunny-Weiss to appear eventually. Probably not for a while, still gotta finish all those other chapters I already started.
The interactions between Ruby and Weiss are a bit different this time. I wanted to try reconciling their canon personalities with mine a bit. This is earlier in their relationship after they started dating, so Ruby is rather nervous in her interactions with Weiss, and I wanted to show Weiss as a bit more of an initiator rather than just the passive one as more commonly happens later after Ruby grows more confident. Like, while Ruby is always more touchy-feely than Weiss, earlier on as in this chapter, she's too nervous to actually do anything, so Weiss gets a bit impatient. Later on when Ruby is more comfortable and confident, it'll be like chapter 7 where she's all over Weiss all the time.
Incidentally, because Ruby is more nervous in this chapter, I find her a lot more cute/adorable compared to her usual characterization. A bunch of the fanart I've seen of Ruby since the series premiered has also had a tendency to be diabetes-inducing, which may be a contributing factor to her in this chapter.
Most of the parts of this chapter were originally intended to be part of Halcyon Days, but putting the two together would have ended up getting longer than intended, and I didn't quite know how I wanted to bridge the two from morning to night. Putting this in also felt like it would have detracted from Blake and Yang's appearances in that chapter. So anyways, it got reworked and is now a separate chapter, and way earlier in the timeline.
Title: Glowing Lights and Peaceful Nights
Characters: Ruby and Weiss.
Genre: Romance.
Summary: A nervous Ruby takes Weiss out on a dinner date. While dinner does not work out the greatest, the rest of the night doesn't turn out so bad.
She felt rather nervous at the moment. She and Weiss would be going on another date tonight, and while this was hardly their first date, Ruby still felt butterflies in her stomach whenever they were near. This was worse than when they had first met. At least she could mostly take it when Weiss had apparently just hated her and yelled a lot, running away was a perfectly acceptable response when encountering her back then. Now Weiss evoked all sorts of other funny feelings in her when they were near each other, but it felt even worse than when they were apart.
None of this was helped by the fact that Team RWBY was planning on moving out of the dorms and into a house together for the four of them soon. When Weiss was in the same room as her, Ruby's heart began beating faster, her face was flushed, her insides felt all twisted up, and she often made an idiot of herself. She was pretty sure that she would never manage to survive living in close quarters with her.
All of this made Ruby feel like her relationship was starting again with Weiss from the beginning, except this time it was a romantic relationship rather than just friendship. Still, the nervousness and anxiety was pretty similar. Before Weiss had warmed up, she had a tendency to be rather...mean. It had not helped to make Ruby comfortable in her presence. However, after Ruby had finally gotten confident in her interactions with the heiress, she had gone and fallen in love with her. While happily her feelings were apparently returned, after the initial burst of happiness the first few days after her confession, her confidence had gone back to square one. After coming back down from cloud nine, she kept fearing that she would somehow manage to screw up their relationship irreparably.
Right now Ruby found herself fidgeting at the entrance to the female dorms. She had gotten there ten minutes early, and was now waiting for Weiss to come down. Not wanting to screw anything up and blow her chances, Ruby had developed a tendency to show up early to any meeting with Weiss.
She was planning on taking Weiss to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was a nice enough place, not terribly fancy, but certainly not cheap or trashy either. The other girl hated fast food, and even Ruby knew that something like that would be a terrible idea of a date for somebody used to classier thing like Weiss. On the other end, Ruby knew that Weiss actually disliked the really fancy restaurants as well. She had been forced to attend far too many official functions as the heiress to her father's company. Well, it's not like Ruby could really afford to take her to such places anyway.
Manners of dress in many places, especially in this town with Beacon nearby were quite varied. Hunters and Huntresses were rather known for occasionally having rather...eccentric manners of dressing, and they often held prominent positions as well in addition to their attitude of not giving much thought to what others thought of them. Thus, codes of dress were also rare. Ruby was rather glad about this, as she didn't have a terribly large wardrobe, thus allowing her to get away with mostly just wearing her usual manner of dress. Her outfit wasn't particularly outrageous by hunter standards, and she thought it was cute at least. Mostly though, she was just attached to her cloak, and hated not having it nearby.
After a few minutes had passed, Weiss arrived exactly on time. "Sorry, have you been waiting long Ruby?" she asked.
Ruby who had been looking down at the ground while killing time looked up towards Weiss to respond. Upon seeing her girlfriend though, Ruby's words got stuck in her throat. It seems that Weiss had chosen not to wear her usual attire unlike her. She had on a snowflake patterned blue dress held up by a pair of thin straps, exposing most of the pale alabaster skin of her arms and shoulders. She was wearing a pair of pretty looking white heeled sandals, but she still fell an inch or two short of Ruby's height. Rather than her usual ponytail Weiss had left her hair down today, held back by a baby blue hairband. While the way she dressed was not particularly fancy, Ruby thought it suited Weiss quite well, and that she looked very cute. Then again Ruby mused to herself, she had yet to see anything that did not look good on Weiss.
"Hello? Ruby?" came a concerned voice that broke through Ruby's train of thought.
Blinking her eyes Ruby's face flushed as she realized that she had been caught staring. "Ah, um, yeah. I-I mean no, not too long. You're right on time," she stuttered out. Stupid stupid stupid Ruby immediately berated herself in her head for losing her cool. She couldn't be totally sure as it lasted only for the shortest of moments, but she could have sworn that the corner of Weiss's mouth twitched upward a bit.
"We-well, if you're ready, let's go then," Ruby stammered. Grabbing Weiss's hand in her own with a bright red face she turned to leave. Walking hand in hand they walked slowly towards the restaurant. All the while, Ruby had a near permanent blush affixed to her face and rarely managed to meet Weiss's eyes. After her embarrassment earlier, she seemed to have a hard time recovering.. It did not take too long to reach their destination, but to Ruby, it felt a lot longer than it actually was.
Once there and seated, Ruby still failed to manage to muster up any courage. Dinner was nice enough, but unfortunately, nothing memorable to speak of happened during it. They made some small talk, with Ruby barely able to look Weiss in the face without blushing. The food was nice enough, and she was happy to be here with Weiss. Still though, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she hadn't had the confidence to make any moves on Weiss. And while she got the distinct feeling that Weiss was rather amused at her blushing and stammering, Ruby was afraid that she may have disappointed her on their date as well.
Biting her lip as they exited the restaurant Ruby had an idea. "Hey Weiss, how about we take a little detour before going back? There's something I want to show you," Ruby said finally managing to face Weiss for once without feeling embarrassed. Weiss agreed without complaint, following Ruby's lead.
At this time the sun was already nearly finished setting and night was descending upon the town. Ruby led Weiss towards a forested park area that she was rather familiar with. She actually rather enjoyed taking walks at night sometimes. The lack of people around, surrounded only by the sounds of nature with the darkness lit only by moonlight and the stars made for a rather peaceful atmosphere.
A light breeze swept through the trees, rustling the leaves and branches. This also brought a chill wind sweeping across the two girls. Still holding Weiss's hand, Ruby noticed a slight shiver run through her body. While Weiss normally was not too bothered by the cold. It was quite a bit colder tonight than the forecast had expected, and Weiss had likely not thought they would be out this late. She was certainly not dressed as warmly as Ruby was tonight.
Taking a deep breath Ruby steeled herself for what she was about to do. She slipped her hand out from Weiss's, and quickly unclasped her cloak as the snowy haired girl turned to look at her. With a smile, she swept her cloak around her girlfriend's form, noting another small shiver as she did so. "I think you need this a bit more than me right now."
Weiss seemed a little taken aback, blushing a little at the gesture. It was touching, but also a tad embarrassing, She also knew that the cloak meant a lot to Ruby. "A-ah. Thank you Ruby," she murmured softly. Wrapping the cloak tightly around herself, Weiss lowered her face into it trying to hide her reddening cheeks. She could still feel Ruby's warmth in the cloak's material. Ruby just beamed happily at her, proud that she had managed to do something right for once today on their date, . "How much farther is it Ruby?"
"Not far now, it's right up ahead. Close your eyes," replied Ruby. "Here, I'll guide you." Stepping behind the other girl, she brought her hands up to cover Weiss's eyes. Walking behind her she slowly led Weiss forward, guiding her beyond the trees and off the path. "Okay, you can open them now," she said as she lifted her hands.
A gasp came from Weiss as she sharply inhaled in surprise. "Wow, it's beautiful," she softly whispered in awe.
Ruby had led her to a medium sized clearing surrounded by the trees. The breeze swept by again as the tall grass swayed gently. The chirping of crickets sounded in the distance as the low handing moon shined in at an angle. The interesting thing however, was the other source of illumination. Hundreds of softly glowing multicoloured lights drifted through the air. Every colour of the rainbow and more was present. Bright trails of lights in many different colours traced their paths throughout the air in a brilliant display.
"I found this place just other week," explained Ruby. "They look like fireflies, but they come in so many colours, and they're quite a bit brighter"
Her gaze still flickering from light to light, Weiss opened her mouth to speak. "I think...that I've heard of this before. The fireflies in this area have been exposed to dust. Some animals in areas with high dust concentrations adapt to it and change. In the case of these fireflies, it gets in their bodies, makes them more energetic and the lights brighter and more varied." Lifting up her hand, a light blue firefly landed on her finger as she stared in wonder, leaving a shimmering trail behind it in the air after it flew off again a moment later. "I've never seen something like this though, it is quite amazing. Thank you for showing me."
As she turned to face Ruby, she saw that the other girl had moved to sit on a fallen log a little to the side in the clearing. Ruby patted the spot next to her. "Why don't you come sit? We can watch them here for a while."
Weiss glanced at the log distastefully. It was rather dirty, and may in fact have been rotting. "I think I have a better idea." With that, after securing the hem of her dress with her hands, Weiss swiftly seated herself into Ruby's lap. "I rather like this seat much better," she teased.
Ruby felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she could scarcely believe that Weiss had done something like that. She didn't even give any warning or ask permission. What Weiss wanted, she just takes. Feeling a sense of competitiveness and emboldened by Weiss's own daring move, she felt her own idea come to her. Two can play at that game she thought to herself. Circling her arms around her girlfriend's waist from behind she pulled her tight to her own body as the other girl squeaked in surprise. "I rather like this too," she murmured into Weiss's ear over her shoulder.
Flushing scarlet herself, Weiss turned away from Ruby, unable to meet her silver eyes. They were close enough that they could feel each other's body heat. It really was uncharacteristic of her to place herself in Ruby's lap of her own volition. Weiss tended to be easily embarrassed when it came to displays of affection, as she was showing now. Still, she could not honestly tell herself that she did not like their current position.
For a while they sat in a comfortable silence, Ruby holding Weiss close to her in her lap as they watched the display in front of them. Weaving to and fro the multitude of dust-augmented lightning bugs left shimmering streaks of colours in an impressive light show. The total lack of sound in the still of the night accompanying the show made it a very peaceful and relaxing experience.
When one particular red firefly they had both been watching flew between them, their eyes caught each other. Looking at Weiss, her face illuminated softly by the small glowing lights surrounding them, Ruby was struck once again by just how beautiful she was. Unbeknownst to her, similar thoughts were going through the mind of the other girl before her. Their faces slowly leaning together, two pairs of lips met.
The initial kiss lasted only shortly, but Ruby immediately went back in not a second later, unable to resist the taste of Weiss's lips. Pulling back once more Ruby shifted Weiss in her lap, turning her legs to the side so she could get better access to Weiss's front. Reaching a hand to cradle the back of the other girl's head. Locking lips once more, Ruby held Weiss to her in a scorching kiss, not letting up until the two were gasping for breath.
Sitting there in a close embrace, they simply basked in each other's presence for moments afterwards. They only idly noted the movements of the fireflies who continued flying as if nothing had happened.
Eventually though, Ruby spoke up. "It's getting kind of late. We should head back soon." Gently she helped Weiss off her lap before standing up herself. After one last lingering gaze at the beautiful scene behind them, they turned to leave, heading back in the direction of Beacon.
"I had a nice time tonight Ruby," said Weiss in appreciation.
Ruby smiled back at her. "I'm glad. I-" Whatever she was about to say next was cut off as she let out a small sneeze.
Taking only a moment to make her decision, Weiss spoke a single word as she moved. "Here." Opening the cloak she pressed herself into Ruby's side and draped half the cloak as best she could over the other girl. She had a light pink across her face once more, but she resolutely maintained a steady expression. That didn't mean however, that she managed to meet Ruby's enquiring gaze.
Ruby felt a lot more confident now than she had at the beginning of the night, emboldened by the events of the night, enough for her to tease Weiss now. "First you sit on my lap, and now this? You're feeling quite affectionate today Weiss. I feel special." She wrapped her arms around Weiss again, holding her even as they continued walking back. Ruby let her head loll to the side onto Weiss's shoulder.
"I-I just wouldn't want you to get sick on my account. That's all," stammered Weiss trying to justify herself. "And that log was disgusting. It would have gotten my dress all dirty. Your lap was just a preferable alternative."
Pouting, Ruby pressed her face into Weiss's neck. "There's no need to be like that. We're dating now after all, aren't we?" she murmured. Bringing her face back up she looked into Weiss's cool blue eyes. She leaned in for another kiss, encountering no resistance at all. Opening her eyes again afterwards she smiled. "Things like this are perfectly normal."
Their playful back and forth aside, the two made good progress back towards the girl's dorms at Beacon. It was not long before they managed to make their way back. Soon after they found themselves standing outside of Weiss's door.
Carefully slipping out from Ruby's grasp under the cloak, Weiss placed her half of the red material loosely over Ruby's shoulders. Unlocking the door and having stepped halfway in she hesitated and turned back towards Ruby. "Would...would you like to come in for some hot cocoa? You must be cold."
Surprised at the invitation as she was, Ruby wasted no time in accepting. Seeing Weiss take off her shoes to avoid tracking in dirt, Ruby followed suit. Having taken longer to unlace her boots relative to Weiss's choice in footwear, the longer haired girl had already disappeared into the kitchen. Making her way over to the couch Ruby sat down and turned on the TV. She placed her cloak next to her on the arm of the couch. Ruby was not really pay attention to what was on, just waiting patiently for her girlfriend to return.
A minute later Weiss swept into the room holding two steaming mugs. Passing one to Ruby, she carefully cupped the other between her hands. Turning to face her Ruby noted that Weiss had taken off the hairband. Sitting down on the couch next to her Weiss barely managed to raise a hand to cover her yawn in time. As if contagious, Ruby yawned as well after almost instantly.
"Tired?" Ruby smiled.
"A little," admitted Weiss.
The two sat next to each other for a while as the night went on. The TV continued playing some late night shows that the two watched as they sipped at their cocoa. For lack of other subjects to talk about while already half asleep they made small talk about the shows they were watching. Ruby supposed that she should probably let Yang know where she was, given how late things had ended up going until, but she couldn't quite manage to muster up the effort at the moment.
"Mmm, this guy is being kind of dumb, isn't he Weiss?" Ruby idly remarked about one of the characters on the television as she placed her empty mug on the coffee table in front of them. No response came, but a moment later Ruby felt a weight on her side. "Weiss?" Looking over she saw that Weiss had finally succumbed to sleep, slumping onto Ruby's side.
Ruby's reflexive grin was almost immediately interrupted by another yawn. She decided that she was far too tired to make it back to her own room tonight, or even to get off this couch. Still, she had no complaints, not with Weiss here. Gently she shifted the sleeping girl into a more comfortable lying position on top of her as Ruby herself brought her own lower body up onto the couch as well. Grabbing her cloak from the side she draped it over their bodies as a makeshift blanket.
Looking down at Weiss, Ruby blushed at the mental image she got from what she saw. The blanket managed to totally cover Weiss's dress, but left her bare legs still visible. With her long white hair spilling over her body covering the dress straps as well, none of her clothes were actually visible. If Ruby didn't know any better, she could have sworn that the only thing covering Weiss's bare body was her cloak.
While that made for a nice thought, Ruby supposed that this was pretty nice as well. Pulling Weiss tight to her chest under the cloak she sighed contentedly. While slowly nodding off, she wasn't quite there yet. Ruby's focus slowly shifted from the still playing television in front of her to the girl on top of her. Idly she began running her fingers through Weiss's hair. She always had loved Weiss's hair, it was one of the purest shades of white she had seen, and it was silky smooth to her touch.
Closing her eyes, the background noise from the TV set faded away. Ruby was able to feel every breath that Weiss took with the rise and fall of her chest. Her face next to Weiss's hair, each breath she took brought in a lung-full of Weiss's scent, which Ruby found quite soothing. The last thing on Ruby's mind before she fell asleep was the beating of two hearts.
Author's Note
Sorry for totally skimming over the dinner scene, but I couldn't think of anything at all for it. All my ideas were for their walk, and then when they got home. Not a single idea about the dinner.
I was quite pleased with the response to the last chapter, 7 reviews just for the one chapter. I'm not sure if that was because of the chapter, because the fan base has expanded with more episodes, or just because I asked for people to vote on which idea they wanted me to write next. Either way, I'd be pretty happy with half of that for this chapter. The next one will most likely be the cookie prompt as that one is already half written.
Red and White is actually the most popular RWBY fanfic on this site right now, and has been for quite a while. Other Side (Which I really like) held the most favourites for a while, but R&W has since surpassed it. I'm quite proud of this achievement, but RWBY is still young, and I will definitely be surpassed in time. I have a feeling that it'll probably be by a non-romance fic, as yuri fics tend to exclude a significant portion of the site's reader base. It's just that right now, many of the early RWBY fans started shipping the girls together really early on. That will change as more episodes are released and more characters are introduced probably.
Also, I have started a forum in the RWBY category. It's for general discussion, you can talk about RWBY, fanfiction, fanart, or something else not even related to RWBY, anything within reason. Now that activity in the RWBY section seems to be picking up, I want a place for RWBY fans to get together and get some discussion going. Please go and post there, I'd like to get a bit of a RWBY community going on FFN. Everyone is welcome.