Chapter 10
A/N: This is essentially the rough draft of this chapter but I don't have the time to edit it. Frankly, parts of it probably don't even meet the standards I would usually set on myself, but that's how it goes when you back yourself into a corner.
And no, this isn't some triumphant return of me as an author. More on that in the closing A/N. For now, just read the chapter.
Headcanon: Weiss is the most affectionate, cuddly drunk ever. Ever.
"Whoo-ee!" Yang exclaimed as she bumbled into her team's home. "Glad that's over."
"They weren't that bad," Weiss scoffed, following the blonde inside along with her other two teammates.
"Hey, if you wanna go back and take more finals, be my guest. I'm so done with them."
"That's not what I –" Weiss snapped, but was abruptly cut off from further arguing by her own yawn. Yang snickered, but soon mirrored her.
Indeed, the third year finals had taken a lot out of all of them; the prevailing thought in most of their minds was a nap. However some, or rather one, of them was of the type always eager to stir up a little revelry for such an occasion. Or any occasion, really.
"Three years," Yang said as she came down from her yawn, "almost hard to believe it's been that long."
Blake nodded, and yawned herself. "Time flies."
"So, you coming?" Yang said to Blake without missing a beat and gesturing back to the door.
"What? Coming where? We just got back!" Blake said indignantly, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Uh, to get stuff for the party we're having tonight, duh!" Yang said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's not every day you finish another year of school!"
It was well known by all four of them that Blake became extremely cranky when deprived of potential naps, a trait that Yang was all too happy to ignore. During one particularly embarrassing dinner table conversation (for the rest of them), she had let slip that she liked it when "her kitty had claws." The other three had since adamantly refused to bring up the matter.
Presently, Blake folded her arms, not wanting to give the insistent blonde any ground. "Why do you always take me along for these little trips?"
A pause filled the room. Ruby and Weiss looked blearily from Blake to Yang, their growing drowsiness allowing them only a passing interest in the affair.
"Because you're my girlfriend and I like spending time with you?" Yang said, looking confused. "What, did you think our entire relationship was just about the sex?"
"I…" Blake was completely taken aback by that answer. Yang made serious comments about their relationship once in a blue moon, and they never failed to make Blake crumble. She finally responded with a flat "no."
Yang smiled sweetly. "I didn't think so." Without another word, she held out her arm and her smile switched from mirth to genuine. Blake took a moment to regain what was left of her aura of dignity before she wrapped both of her own around it, and just like that they were back out the door, Blake leaning her head against Yang's shoulder with newfound affection. The other two did nothing but stare with varying degrees of befuddlement etched on their faces.
Before long another yawn from Weiss interrupted the silence. Ruby looked to her and smiled lazily.
Weiss' brows were quick to furrow. "What?"
"Nothing," Ruby said loftily, but not abandoning her smile.
She had been dating Weiss long enough to be familiar with the many ins-and-outs of her personality. She took great joy in bringing out some of these quirks, and others she knew were better to avoid. Many of the good ones she found absolutely adorable; like Weiss' nonverbal insistence to be cuddled when they slept, or how she stumbled over words if Ruby tilted her head and looked at her just right. However, there was a challenge in not letting Weiss become aware of them, because so much of what made them cute was Weiss' utter inability to see them. As it was, her subconscious acts of affection were simply another reason Ruby had to love her.
As they strode further into the house, Ruby's smile could only grow wider as Weiss gravitated closer to her with each step. On the first day she met her, Ruby would have never believed that Weiss was a cuddler. Sometimes she still didn't believe it, because when she was in a normal state of mind, the most Weiss would give her was usually no more than a grudging hug, depending on the privacy of the situation. When she was tired, however, Weiss could become very agitated, very quickly, if denied physical contact. Luckily for her, she had a near endless supply of that on a moment's whim. Most of the time she didn't even have to ask.
So when Ruby threw herself on the couch, Weiss was hardly a second behind her.
There they sat, enjoying that they could finally rest after such a hectic year. Ruby had slumped herself unceremoniously on one end, trying to get as comfortable as possible in the slightly awkward position. Weiss had, of course, taken more care in her posture. She sat daintily next to her leader, promptly drawing her legs up onto the couch to better lean on her before curling up snugly, her head comfortably rested upon Ruby's breast.
"It really is hard to believe it's been so long," Ruby marveled quietly. "Feels like yesterday I exploded your Dust all over you."
"Which time?" Weiss mumbled into her chest. "There's so many. Do you mean that time halfway through first year? Or the time after that? Or one of the other six dozen times? Or maybe actually yesterday, during our paired combat final?"
"It was an accident!" Ruby whined quickly. "And I meant the very first time! Remember?"
Weiss hummed fondly at the memory and wrapped an arm around her longtime girlfriend. Now that she was comfortable, sleep was even harder to resist and talking felt so exhausting. Readjusting slightly, she took a moment to appreciate how accommodating and soft her current pillow was. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper.
"I'll never forget."
Ruby ran a hand softly through her ivory hair, satisfied enough with the response. The steady, rhythmic breathing of a tired Weiss in her arms had become such a familiar feeling to her and one that she would never stop appreciating. No one but her would ever see Weiss so vulnerable, and she had earned that trust through time, toil, and love. It was all worth it just to feel that faint heartbeat against her own.
Smitten as she was, something else tugged at her thoughts.
"Has it really been six dozen times?"
She got no response. Ruby sighed, and smiled. "Only you would keep track of something like that."
Without further ado, Ruby lightly pressed her lips to her lover's forehead, whispered a goodnight, and rested against her as she waited for sleep to take her too.
"Ugh. Gaylords."
"What?" Blake said, thoroughly confused. They had only just walked back in the door, and Yang was already trying to stir something up?
"Just look at them," Yang groaned with great disdain.
So she did. There on the couch in plain view were Ruby and Weiss sleeping soundly, snuggled sinfully close together with their limbs so intertwined that is was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. Blake couldn't help but notice how reminiscent the sight was of a scene in one of her more cheesy romance novels. However, she had always thought the author could've done a better job of describing just how endearing the sight of two lovers clinging so desperately to eacthother was. Now that she was witnessing it herself, she understood the difficulty of describing such an intimate thing.
"Cute," Blake said blandly. She didn't much mind Ruby and Weiss' displays of affection, but Yang was apparently taking such great offense that she mimicked retching. "What's your deal?" Blake asked tersely.
"They're just so… gay!"
"Then what does that make us?"
"Oh come on, Blake. We're gay but we're not that gay."
"Well I think it's sweet," Blake said. Yang snorted, and Blake gave her a hard look. "You could stand to be a little more cuddly, you know."
Yang laughed in earnest. "And end up like them? No thanks."
Blake wasn't impressed. "You're a crappy girlfriend," she said flatly.
"Buuut…" Yang sing-songed in response, closing in on her until they were barely an inch apart.
"But nothing," Blake said adamantly. She tried to stare down Yang, but it was as futile as dust in the wind.
"Buuut…!" Yang sang again, now at a higher pitch and insistently pressing her cheek onto Blake's own.
Blake rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "But you're my crappy girlfriend."
"And don't you forget it!"
Contented, Yang left her side to tend to the party "goods" they had retrieved, which was mostly just putting them in the fridge.
"You're not actually offended by them being like that, right?" Blake mused once there was some distance between them.
"'Course not!" Yang said with a wry smile. "Giving them a hard time about it is just part of the job."
Blake's eyes rolled.
Over in the other room, one half of the cuddling couple was stirring. In a flutter of lashes the younger of the two slowly rejoined the land of the living and, realizing where she was, quickly made the most of it by squeezing the girl in her arms and planting a kiss on the crown of her head. Weiss gave her a little nudge to show that she too was waking. With half-lidded eyes and a small smile she turned to the redhead, happy with the simple fact that she could wake up in her arms. As Ruby closed the already small distance between their lips, Weiss found her eyes closing again in a contented bliss, waiting for…
"Finally you two are awake!"
Weiss jumped and instinctively pushed herself away from Ruby, immediately lamenting how she hadn't gotten her kiss.
"Yang!" she screeched, "what are you doing here!?"
"I live here, princess," Yang said with added mirth.
"Don't get smart with me – what are you doing here? You're intruding!"
"Intruding in my own living room?" Yang laughed. "Or do you mean your little snugglefest with my sister?"
"So help me Yang, I will-" Weiss growled, absolutely fuming.
"Hey, hey," Yang said, cutting her off but taking a step back nonetheless, "no need to get all touchy. It's not like I haven't seen you two gaying it up before!"
"Yang!" Weiss screeched again, lunging at the blonde. Yang dashed into the kitchen laughing joyously.
Ruby was slow to follow. She knew Weiss wouldn't really hurt her sister, or at least not much, and that was only if Yang let her at all. When she did go into the kitchen herself, she was unsurprised to see Yang playfully hiding behind Blake as Weiss tried to get at her. Blake caught Ruby's eye, rolling her own along with a small shake of her head. Ruby responded with a shrug before moving to intercept Weiss.
She managed to wrap her arms around Weiss' midriff, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her dainty body clean off the floor as Weiss continued to shriek in tongues.
"Now now," Ruby said calmly but loud enough for Weiss to hear, "I'm sure Yang didn't mean anything by it. Right, sister?"
"Ha!" Yang laughed, "like hell I didn-" alas, she was cut off by Blake smothering her while giving her a nasty warning glare. To everyone's great relief that made Yang decide to relent – for now.
"Okay, sorry, yeesh."
That satisfied Weiss enough to stop her kicking and screeching and Ruby let her down carefully before whispering an apology herself for taking such uncouth measures. Weiss had truly trained her well.
Naturally, the light in Yang's eyes had yet to die. "So Weiss, wanna kiss and make up?" Weiss pivoted and made to stomp towards Yang again, but the blonde continued, "Or are you going to be selfish and save all the kissing for Ruby?"
Blake punched Yang in the shoulder, hard. Ruby's features visibly sagged as if to say here we go again. How Weiss reacted however, none of them saw coming.
She froze in her tracks, looked Yang straight in the eye, and said:
"I am."
Behind her, Ruby blushed furiously. Weiss did too, although she fought the worst of it back. Yang simply stood there with a look on her face that was somewhere between surprise and confusion.
"…Right," Blake said after a moment of awkward silence, she being the only one unphased by Weiss' bold words. "Can we just get this party thing started so it can be over and I can go to bed? Yang, be a dear and get the drinks."
"Uh," Yang muttered, looking at her dumbly. "Oh, yeah, right. Party time, dweebs!"
"You're kidding. Where did you get this?"
"I have my ways."
Weiss stared in disbelief at the bottle in her hands.
"This is one of the finest wines in the world! Even my father had a hard time acquiring any!"
"Is it?" Yang asked mildly. "Dang, that guy should've asked for more. Ah well, his loss."
She held out a hand to take the bottle back, and Weiss handled it like she was passing over an infant child. Even after it was out of her hands she stared at it in reverence.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Blake asked irritably. "Pour some out already!"
"Calm your paws kitten, I'm going…"
Yang carefully tipped equal portions into the glasses in front of them. When she got to the fourth however, Weiss put her hand over the glass to stop her.
"Ruby's not having any."
"What!?" Ruby cried. "But Weiss, I'm almost eighteen, and I wanna!"
"You're still underage, and I said no," Weiss said firmly.
Yang snickered. "What are you, married?"
"We might as well be," Weiss said without missing a beat.
All the air seemed to be sucked from the room. In the tiniest of moments, Ruby went from whining to her jaw dropping. Yang stared in bemusement at the girl across from her. Weiss remained adamant in keeping her hand inbetween Ruby's glass and the wine despite the blush rapidly creeping up her cheeks. Blake simply watched the scene with veiled amusement.
"Sorry sis," Yang said what felt like an eternity later, "but the lady has spoken."
Ruby would've pouted, but given what had just been said she couldn't find the words to do so much as grunt. Even as the seconds ticked into minutes and her teammates sipped their wine, her mind did little to unscramble itself.
Ruby finally regained some semblance of conscious thought when Yang was pouring out the second round. Or was it the third already? Wait, did Weiss really think of her as her future wife? Whoops, there went her mind drifting off to that wonderful place again.
"Ruby? … Ruuuby!"
"Yer doin' it wrong, kitten, see, watsh dis!"
"OW! Yang, get off me!"
But Yang, now sprawled over her sister's lap, didn't budge.
Weiss, whom Ruby was pleased to discover was curled up next to her on the couch with her arms around her neck, seemed to take offense at this intrusion.
"Hey, you big, bumbling, blonde… buffoon! Get out of my territory!"
Weiss weakly pawed at her new nemesis. But this wasn't the Weiss Ruby knew. Her Weiss would never move so lethargically. But wait, where was she again? All she could remember was that comment Weiss had made… how long ago? And before that, something about… wine?
"Blake?" Ruby asked to the room as the battle over her lap continued (as much as a battle could continue with one of its participants unconscious and the other barely moving). Thankfully, she got a hummed response from the armchair across from her.
"How long have I been out?"
"You were gone?" Blake murmured softly. She seemed on the edge of sleep.
"I mean… um, how long ago did Weiss say she wanted to marry me?"
"You're getting married? About time."
"No, no! She just said something like that tonight!"
"Ohhhh." Blake stretched and sat up straighter. "That was hours ago."
"Hours!? What have I been doing this entire time!?"
"Mostly staring at the wall I think, while blondie here got outdrank by your girlfriend. You might want to, uh, take care of her, by the way. I think she had a little too much and she's been getting… weird."
Ruby shifted her attention to Weiss on Blake's advice. She had apparently given up on removing Yang from her lap, instead cuddling Ruby in some semiconscious limbo. Blake was right; this was weird. Being cuddly in the presence of others was something Weiss stubbornly avoided at the best of times. To do it so openly – even around people as familiar as Blake and Yang – was unheard of.
"Is she… drunk? Is this what drunk people are like?" Ruby asked naively. Blake shrugged.
"Different people act drunk in different ways. Most of the time it's just amplifying traits that are already there."
"Amplifying…" Ruby wandered off, looking back to the girl clinging to her as if she was afraid Ruby would drift away if she let go. "Weiss? Hello?" she said tentatively with an accompanying nudge.
Weiss shifted and moaned softly, tightening her grip around Ruby. Her eyes opened just enough for Ruby to see a hint of dashing blue meeting her own. Ruby smiled a little, happy to see her awake.
Without warning, Weiss cracked a wide, lopsided grin and yanked Ruby into a tight hug.
"Ruuuby! Heeey, sweetie!" Weiss bubbled. Her speech was surprisingly clear for how much she had drank, but she was certainly elongating vowels much more than usual. It didn't sound right coming from her, and Ruby couldn't find the word to describe it. Could it be… endearing?
Which was wrong. Weiss was many things, but endearing would not be the first, or tenth, thing that Ruby would think when she came to mind. And calling her sweetie? Not once had Weiss ever addressed her by anything of the sort. Even in their most affectionate and intimate moments, the closest she had ever gotten was a smile and a softly muttered "dunce."
It was perfect. Ruby's mind couldn't stop reeling.
"Right," Blake said slowly, also astounded by Weiss' choice wording. "I think I'm going to take Yang upstairs now. Er, have fun."
Without wasting much time, Blake stood, stretched, and gently lifted Yang off of Ruby's lap and unceremoniously placed her over her shoulder.
"C'mon you lightweight, it's bedtime," she muttered as she walked out of the room.
Yang's head drowsily perked up for the first time. "I'll bed your time!" she slurred before slumping over again, seemingly unconscious.
"Of course you will," Blake sighed.
Ruby spared but a moment watching them go before more pressing matters regained her attention: ironically, the girl pressing into her chest without any concern for appearances. The girl who was acting so very unlike everything Ruby had ever believed about her. The girl whom she loved so dearly and would do anything for.
"I think bedtime isn't such a bad idea," she said softly as she held Weiss to her chest and nuzzled her hair.
"But I don't wanna!" Weiss whined pitifully. "I just wanna hug you forever!"
Heat rushed to Ruby's face faster than her semblance would ever take her. Her ears must be deceiving her. This couldn't be Weiss saying these wonderful, wonderful things. It went against everything she had ever known.
Thankfully, she had her natural leadership talents to fall back on when she realized Weiss' every word was nearly paralyzing her with sweetness.
"I really think bed might be a good-"
"Nope!" Weiss chirped in the exact same way Ruby would.
Ruby never thought she would find anything better than sugar; but this was it. Her mind screamed, begging her to squeeze this new Weiss for all she was worth and then some. When she tried to speak again, her voice was a pitiful whimper in the presence of this scion of sweetness.
"Weiss…"
The girl moaned softly and didn't make any move to heed her. Instead, Ruby got another surprise.
"Carry me."
Ruby's breath hitched. She had carried Weiss before, but to be asked to do it?
"Okay, but you need to let go so I can stand up first," Ruby said softly, trying to pry herself out of Weiss' grip. It took a moment, but she did escape as Weiss' arms went slack.
She looked back down at her charge and had to fight the urge to go straight back into her arms.
People had always accused Ruby of using puppy-dog eyes to get what she wanted. Once, she had done it to a mirror and she had to agree that it was pretty cute. All of that was thrown out the window like it was nothing when she saw Weiss' expression. Ruby was a fool to think nobody could do that face better than her. She could not have been more wrong.
Weiss had Ruby completely at her mercy and she didn't even know it.
With her arms held out like a child waiting to be picked up by its mother, Weiss pouted until Ruby finally descended upon her. She came back up with Weiss' limbs wrapped around her torso and nose only inches away from her own. Half-lidded blue eyes beamed at her and a small, content smile graced Weiss' lips.
Then, Weiss lifted a finger, lightly touched the tip of Ruby's nose, and said, "You're my sweetheart."
Ruby had always expected her death to be on the battlefield. It came with being a huntress. But this; she was surely going to meet her end on an overdose of this new Weiss. It couldn't be humanly possible to absorb this much sweetness and survive. It simply couldn't. She had to fight back.
"No," Ruby said, "you're my sweetheart!"
"Noooo," Weiss echoed, vigorously shaking her head and making her ponytail whip aaround Ruby, "you're my sweetheart!"
Ruby made sure she was safely at the top of the stairs and in their room before retorting again. "No, you're mine!" she bellowed, throwing Weiss onto the bed before her. Weiss fell screaming and giggling in equal measure.
The sound was muffled through the walls, but it would be hard not to hear what was going on across the hall for someone with only two ears. Blake, being graced with four, could hear everything. She gave the blonde, beautiful, and utterly unconscious figure sprawled out next to her a disdainful look. She loved that woman, but damn it all if Yang didn't leave her unsatisfied sometimes. Would it be so hard for her to lay down her ego and be a little lovey-dovey for once?
Blake sighed. Maybe she was just reading too many cheesy romance novels.
"Problems, kitty?" came a mumbled voice.
Blake nearly jumped. "Yang? I thought you were-"
"One bottle of wine won't take me out," Yang answered. "Er, usually."
"Right. It's nothing, go back to sleep," Blake muttered, turning her back to the blonde.
"Not so fast. Come here."
Yang tenderly pulled Blake back into her and kissed the back of her head.
"You said you wanted me to be more cuddly. I think I can make that happen," Yang purred. "Just… don't tell the others, okay?"
"Right," Blake said again in much happier spirits. She settled into the embrace, closing her eyes. Blake wasn't the type to be exuberant, but in this moment, she had to admit to herself that she was perfectly content.
"Hey, Blake?" Yang said softly.
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"I… love you too."
"Ruuuby…" Weiss teased, "Guess whaaat!"
Ruby didn't even open her mouth before Weiss finished:
"Tickle fiiiight!"
Now Ruby was really worried. There was absolutely no chance this was the real Weiss. It would be a violation against nature. This couldn't even be a dream; it was too perfect. How had she never known alcohol was such a miracle mixture?
Her own squeals of delight drowned out all doubts as Weiss pounced, fumbling her fingers over Ruby's sides with lackluster coordination. As a veteran of many a tickle fight with Yang in her earlier years, Ruby quickly gained the advantage and had Weiss in tears of laughter before the battle even began.
"Ruh… Ruuu… byyyy!" Weiss wailed as her every drunken effort to gain an advantage was quickly rebuffed. "Stooop!"
"Do you accept defeat?" Ruby demanded triumphantly.
"I… aha… just stop. I'm tiiired," Weiss moaned.
Ruby wanted to go further, make her admit that she lost, but Weiss was giving her that look again. She immediately relented and rolled off of Weiss. As soon as she did, Weiss wrapped around her and closed her eyes.
Weiss mumbled something that Ruby didn't quite hear.
"What?"
"You're… my snugglemuffin."
That was it.
That was it.
For too long Ruby had endured Weiss' drunken sweetness. She had survived the cuddling, the nicknames, the mention of marriage, and the adorable rambling, but this. This was too much.
She grabbed Weiss, squeezing her so tight that Yang would be proud, and rolled around with her on the bed back and forth, so overcome with joy that her delighted screams couldn't even escape her throat and came out as breathy rasps. Never before had there been a moment where she felt so completely in love with Weiss. Coherent thoughts were completely lost on her as that feeling coursed through her body, and all it had taken was one word; one that would sound childish and inane coming from anyone other than her beautiful Weiss.
Snugglemuffin.
"Weiss, I love you! … Weiss?"
Soft puffs of breath met her face and Ruby opened her eyes for the first time since hearing that wonderful word. And there was Weiss. Asleep.
Ruby smiled, a much more reserved smile than was previously gracing her face.
"That's twice you've fallen asleep on me today."
Nevertheless, she bade her goodnight with a kiss once again.
Something was hurting. Light felt piercing on her closed eyes. She stirred, not even knowing where she was until a voice spoke.
"Hey there little Miss Schnuggles," the voice said softly.
"What did you just call me?" Weiss muttered, drawing a hand over her forehead and grimacing. Was she ill?
"Miss Schnuggles?" Ruby repeated.
"Not that – little?"
Ruby laughed. Weiss cringed; too much noise.
"Give it up Weiss. You're destined to be tiny and adorable forever!" Weiss grumbled incoherently as Ruby pulled her into her arms and continued, "And I'll always love you just the way you are."
Despite everything, that made Weiss blush. She resigned herself to laying motionless in her girlfriend's arms and trying to will her headache away.
"So…" Ruby muttered, noticing Weiss' silence, "since you didn't say anything about it, can I still call you Miss Schnuggles?"
"No!" Weiss said incredulously. The shrill sound of her own voice shot pain through her head. "No," she repeated in a much softer tone.
"Aww c'mon! I've been waiting to use that one for so long!" Ruby whined, tightening her grip around her girlfriend's waist. "See, it's clever because it's like your last name but it's also cute and sounds like cuddles and, oh, pleeeaase can I use it? You got to call me snugglemuffin!"
"I… what?" Weiss panicked. She had only ever used that word to refer to Ruby in her own head. She had always taken the utmost caution to never let that word pass through her lips. From the way Ruby was looking at her, she knew that Ruby knew. The damage had been done. Denying it was useless.
Weiss groaned loudly, and her pounding head wasn't helping. "Fine, if you must. But only in private, not even around Blake and Yang. Especially not Yang."
"Hooray!"
"Ruby, one more thing," Weiss said commandingly. Ruby's expression fell a little.
"Um, what?"
Weiss looked right into the silver eyes that she had fallen in love with so long ago.
"You are my snugglemuffin."
.
.
.
.
.
Closing A/N: Well, there you go. I got the concept for this in my head months ago. I think I really didn't do the whole idea justice, but whatever.
This is the last update you'll see from me. Thank you all for reading, following, reviewing, all that kind of stuff. Never expected something like this to get so big. Sorry I won't be doing more, but such is life. And no, I'm not dying.