Summary: Ruby is cold. Weiss is warm.

They were running on fumes in search of shelter. The dry winter wind left a spell of chills underneath their skins, but they kept pushing onward as the blades of grass frosted with ice crunched beneath their feet.

What had been soft powders of snow falling from the sky was beginning to brew into a fierce blizzard. Snowflakes lashed brutally against their faces and stung like pellets of ice.

They were desperate to get out of here… wherever here was. The heat from their bodies had been stripped from them long ago. They weren't equipped to travel in one of the coldest regions, and getting caught by a nasty snowstorm would threaten their lives, especially in their worn-out condition.

Every fiber of their muscles was crying in pain. The train ride to Argus had worn them down to a regrettable state of exhaustion they were all too familiar with. They weren't expecting to get ambushed by a horde of Manticores and Sphinxes, and they didn't anticipate for the tail end of the train to derail and crash to ground level. They had emerged from the blanket of snow unharmed, but they were stranded in the outlands of Solitas with a 'defenseless', as Yang had coarsely put it, old lady.

They slogged through the snow-covered trail for miles with their cold, roughed-up bodies. Compared to the frigid air that had been dropping consistently, the silence was bitterly colder. They were all on the edge. Dealing with the abrupt appearance of a spirit residing in the Relic of Knowledge had exhausted the group mentally. Discovering the truth and how Salem could not be killed had destroyed them emotionally.

"Do you hear that?" Ruby stopped walking, and everyone else paused in their tracks too.

Over the sounds of the roaring wind, they picked up an eerie, metallic creaking somewhere far in the distance. Hearing something other than the howls of nature elevated their spirits, and they quickly located the noise to the main gate of a settlement.

Ruby placed a hand on the rusted gate to stop its grating screeches and quelled a shiver when the icy metal numbed the skin of her palm. Blake followed right behind her and studied the arched sign hanging above the entrance.

Brunswick Farms.

"Well, at least one good thing happened today," Blake said.

Weiss examined the farm and noted its unsettling condition. Every building appeared to be weather-beaten. Paints were chipped off, bricks were spalling… The farm seemed to be poorly maintained. "It looks abandoned."

"It's still better than this." Ruby made her point when she gestured to the barren land frozen with snow.

"Come on." Qrow didn't argue with that. Anything was better than trudging through ankle-deep snow and catching hypothermia. "I think we can all use some rest."

They bunkered down in the main building just in time before a flurry of snow suddenly descended upon them. The snowstorm engulfed the town with its winter rage, obscuring the farm with snow clouds that rivaled the thickest of fogs. Instead of taking nature's wrath head on, they spent their day scavenging for supplies and the night catching up on rest.

Sleep didn't come easy for Weiss as she kept tossing and turning. Although their journey had left her exhausted, sleep eluded her. She tried counting sheep, but she had gotten more stress than relaxation when her tired mind couldn't count past the double digits.

The fire that once brought a steady source of warmth had extinguished in the middle of the night. The cold crept back inside the house uninvited and started to seep through her thin blanket. Feeling the temperature plummet back down to freezing temperatures didn't bother her, but she couldn't speak the same for her sleeping companions who were spread across the living room.

Weiss had considered restarting the fire for their sake. There was nothing quite as comforting than having the extra heat to ward off the cold. The sun was still hours away from rising, but then she belatedly remembered there wasn't anymore dry lumber left to burn. They had used the last log before calling it a night.

While there were other options to fuel a flame, Weiss quickly decided against it. Tearing out pages from books seemed like a good idea, but she felt it was inappropriate to disrespect the homeowner's, who were resting eternally upstairs, belongings.

As Weiss drifted in and out of her own sleep-deprived thoughts, a sneeze came ringing through the living room. She sat upright with a dazed expression and casted her eyes towards the sleeping bodies. To her understanding, a sneeze had meant someone was awake.

The scant moonlight spilling through the windowpane brightened the room just enough for Weiss to make out the resting figures. Everyone was sound asleep except for her partner who was curled up, shivering. She could hear Ruby desperately trying to silence her chattering teeth, but her efforts were in vain.

Not a second later, Weiss rose from the floor and put her blanket on top of Ruby. With the fire gone, she knew the temperature was going to drop even further. The extra blanket wouldn't fend off the cold entirely, but it would at least keep her partner warmer.

"Weiss?" The blankets ruffled when Ruby stirred from her fetal position. As she sat up and rubbed the edge of her eyes, the blankets fell and pooled around her waist. The cold seized onto every exposed skin it could find, and her immediate reaction was to rub her arms to generate heat.

"Go back to sleep, Ruby." Weiss cooed, trying to be as quiet as possible. She wouldn't want to wake up Yang, who was knocked out on the other side of the blanket, or the others sleeping around them. Gently pushing Ruby by the shoulders, she urged her to lie back down. Ruby didn't put much of a resistance, and Weiss pulled the blankets up to Ruby's chin.

"You'll be cold," Ruby murmured.

"You're the one who is cold, you dolt." Weiss whispered.

"I can't have your blanket…"

"I'll be okay," Weiss promised her.

A blanket wasn't something Weiss needed in the first place because living in Atlas made her desensitized to the cold. It was a luxury to have one, but it was a luxury she could not afford. She couldn't bear watching her partner freeze to death.

"Don't leave," Ruby slurred in a soft, sleepy voice that tugged the strings of Weiss' heart. She reached out from underneath the blankets and took Weiss' hand before Weiss could get up. "We can share. I don't want you to sleep in the cold."

That was the thing about Ruby — always selfless as she thought more about her companions than herself. Her selflessness was one of the things Weiss loved about her, but it was something she also hated at the same time. It broke her heart to see Ruby sacrifice her own well being to go beyond people's needs. She wished her partner would be more selfish when the time called for it. Like for instance, right now.

Weiss let out a quiet sigh. "Will it get you to sleep?"

The best thing to do right now was to give her partner a good night's rest. After the fall of Beacon, Weiss had noticed the little sleep Ruby was getting during their travels. As if there was no one to liberate their leader from obligations, Ruby continued to overwork herself. That alone made Weiss worry.

Ruby's path to self-destruction scared her, but that conversation would have to be postponed to another day. This wasn't the time and place for it. What Ruby needed now was rest, not a wake-up call. If laying next to her meant one less concern and a better sleep, then Weiss would gladly put her pride away and do it.

"Mmhm."

That decided it. Weiss didn't argue as she slipped next to Ruby upon the invitation. Once they were laying side by side, she pulled the blankets up to their chin. She made sure to seal every crevice properly to block out the icy air.

"Better?"

"Mm." Ruby rolled over onto her side and curled closer to Weiss. Her breath tickled Weiss' neck like the first snow that landed on their cheeks. Weiss stilled herself and her beating heart. "You're so warm."

"Naturally."

"How come you're so warm and I'm so cold? Feel me."

Ruby wormed a hand over to Weiss, and Weiss jolted at the cold contact. The hand was so cold that the chill could freeze blood, but Weiss held onto Ruby even tighter instead of jerking away. Keeping her partner warm became her number one priority.

"Atlesians genetically have higher body temperature to combat the cold," Weiss answered. She allowed the warmth to leave her hand as she refused to let go of Ruby's cold one. "I'm just naturally warmer than most people."

"I think we need to change your nickname now," Ruby let out a quiet, somnolent giggle. She put her other hand on top until Weiss' hand was sandwiched between hers. The heat they were emanating together soothed away the cold, like those disposable hand warmers.

"To what?"

"To Warm Queen. Or maybe to Hot Queen because you're like a toaster oven."

If Weiss didn't feel her own warmth, then she did now with the heat rising to her cheeks. The nickname didn't seem as innocent as Ruby made it out to be. Picturing her partner referring to her as 'Hot Queen' was embarrassing, and she couldn't imagine how much teasing she'd receive from everyone else.

Actually, she could.

"Let's not. I'd rather be called a Toaster Oven over Hot Queen."

"But it makes total sense," Ruby mused.

"It sounds ridiculous," Weiss muttered. She felt an imperceptible shiver coming from Ruby and she couldn't help but to worry. "Are you still cold?"

"Just a bit…"

"Would this help?" Slowly, Weiss untangled their hands and put her arms around Ruby. She let their bodies touch as she gave her partner all the warmth her body was dispersing.

Ruby gave a nod and huddled closer to the source of the heat. Her nose bumped into Weiss' collar bone and she suddenly flinched. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No," Weiss said softly, assuring her with another tug closer. She tucked Ruby against her chest, near her heart, where it was the warmest. "Try getting some sleep."

"I'm not tired…" Ruby mumbled, her languorous voice betraying her response. She burrowed herself into Weiss' arms, nuzzling deeply into their embrace. "I was more cold than sleepy."

"You're not cold now, are you?" Weiss questioned, and she received a head shake from Ruby. "You should still get as much rest as possible."

"What if I want to talk more?"

"We can talk more tomorrow. We have a long day ahead of us."

Ruby mulled over it, but sleep was starting to win her over. The warmth she felt through Weiss' body was soothing to the touch, and also, putting her to sleep. She was having a hard time stringing thoughts and sentences together.

"Mm'kay."

"Goodnight, Ruby." Weiss whispered.

"Weiss?" Ruby mumbled, trying to fight the sleep that wanted to claim her.

"Hm?"

"Can we do this again?"

"We can do this again," Weiss spoke softly, "even when it's not cold."

"Mm'kay." Ruby wiggled as close as she could to Weiss before murmuring a soft 'goodnight'.

Sleep finally took Ruby as her soft snores joined the rest that filled the room. Weiss knew the comments she would receive in the next morning would be unavoidable, but that didn't stop her from holding Ruby close to her heart as she eventually drifted to sleep.

Prompt given by a guest!

"People always write the 'Ice Queen' as being naturally cold, but I would imagine that the people of Solitas would have a naturally higher temperature. So I've always liked the idea of Ruby noticing the fact that Weiss is a lot warmer than she'd expected."

This is my new headcanon. I want a Hot Queen.