A/N: The first of several Valentine's Day oneshots is here. If you want to see a particular ship, feel free to vote in the poll on my profile page or suggest a ship in a review. All definitions are courtesy of Merriam Webster. Enjoy!
"I told you, getting her food or flowers or something isn't going to work!" Ruby insists, sighing in frustration at her older sister's stubbornness.
"Ruby, it might help if you were willing to tell me who the lucky girl is," Yang points out.
"No, I'm not going to tell you! You'd tease me!"
"Is it Weiss?"
"No, of course not! Why would I get Weiss a gift for Valentine's Day?"
"Okay, okay. Well, work out what she likes and get her something that she likes."
What does she like?
She's perfect, so Ruby honestly can't think of much she needs. And you can't exactly buy someone like her food –
Weapons. She likes weapons – or Ruby likes weapons, at least. And she might need a weapon, since her usual weapons make it kind of obvious that she's not human.
That's settled. Time to go make the best weapon ever just to finally get a girl to notice her.
And if she steals a few things from Weiss, and a few more from that creepy secret lab underneath Beacon, it was for a good cause.
And she does make the best weapon ever. It's a thin sword that has a revolver built into the hilt, and it's powerful but graceful, like its intended recipient. It's enameled in green and white, to match her colors, and shaped to fit her hand from that one time she grabbed Ruby's arm that Ruby can still remember. And it's perfect. Maybe.
Rub chickens out, and spends two hours hiding in her dorm room, glancing out the window occasionally to look for the airship coming in from Atlas, clutching the new weapon.
"Rubes, her ship is here," Yang calls from the doorway. "You should actually go talk to her."
"She's not going to like it," Ruby wails. "She's going to think it's a terrible weapon, and she's going to think I'm pathetic, and she's never going to talk to me again."
"Ruby, she seems like a nice person," Yang says. "Now go give her the sword. You don't even have to say anything, if you panic that badly."
"But I don't even now if they have Valentine's Day in Atlas, or if she likes me, or anything!"
"Ruby, you can stay here and gay panic and never know if she likes you, or you can actually go talk to her and see what happens. I'm not going to stay here any longer."
"I'm not gay panicking! That's rude!"
Yang does actually leave, rather than coming back in five minutes later to check on Ruby, which is surprising.
Okay, maybe Ruby should actually go talk to her. Maybe.
But she's all pretty and smiley and huggy and confusing, and she has such pretty eyes, and she's so strong, and everything is perfect when she's around, and Ruby might be gay panicking a little bit.
She picks up the weapon and leaves.
When Ruby can actually see her, she freezes up again. This is a terrible idea, what is she even going to say, she'd rather just die than actually go over there …
"Ruby!"
A blur of green and white and orange tackles her, knocking the weapon out of her hand. Ruby tries to regain the ability to breathe and squints at her assailant. It's her, of course, and now Ruby has to actually talk to her.
"It is so good to see you! How are you?" Penny asks, helping Ruby to her feet.
Ruby opens her mouth and tries to make actual words.
"Um, I made you a sword. It's also a gun. I thought it might be helpful, since your usual weapons are all floaty and they make it obvious that you're, you know." Ruby picks up the weapon and offers it to Penny. She takes it, and her hand brushes Ruby's for a second, and it's warm even though she's a robot, and Ruby might be in heaven when she smiles.
"Ruby, this is perfect! Shall we go practice sparring?"
"Um, actually, I was hoping that we could, uh, maybe go get some coffee or something? Not that you drink coffee, and I don't like coffee either, but Yang said you should invite people for coffee for a first date if you aren't old enough to drink. So, um, yeah, coffee?"
Penny's eyes flash green for a moment, then her eyebrows draw together.
"By a 'date', do you mean a 'social engagement between two persons that often has a romantic character'?"
"Yes?"
"That sounds lovely!" Penny says, smiling again.
She said yes.
Ruby whoops in glee and punches the air.
"So, should we go get coffee now?"
"If neither of us drink coffee, wouldn't it be more sensible to practice sparring, regardless of the social conventions of a 'first date'?"
"Yes. That would be much more sensible," Ruby says, because honestly she's barely listening to Penny's actual words right now.
They find an unoccupied training room easily. Penny shifts her grip on the new weapon.
"I'll go easy on you for the first few rounds until you get used to the new weapon," Ruby offers.
"That is patent nonsense," Penny says, then fires the revolver toward her. Ruby ducks the six-foot ball of flame that impacts with the opposite wall, completely demolishing it.
"Oh dear," Penny comments, as Ruby swats at her cape to put it out. "Was that intentional?"
"It's really powerful," Ruby says. "I probably should have mentioned that before I gave it too you and told you to shoot me, but it's designed to have the firepower to take down an Ursa in one hit. You'll win at the Vytal Festival easily."
Penny frowns.
"But the Vytal Festival is a competition, and we are competing against each other. Why would you help me to win?"
Ruby shrugs.
"You're my friend," Ruby says. "And I, um, I like you a lot, so I really want you to succeed."
"Thank you, Ruby!" Penny says, beaming and wrapping her up in another hug. "I would like for you to succeed as well. But first, I want to see all of Vale with you."
"Vale's pretty big, but I can show you some of my favorite spots," Ruby offers. The words are barely out of her mouth before Penny drags her out by the hand, almost knocking her over.
Ruby spends the next six hours alternately pointing out landmarks and being dragged by Penny to whatever she sees. And all of it is perfect.
Eventually, they end up collapsing in a meadow on the outskirts of the woods, laughing. They should probably go back before it gets any later, but between Penny's combat skills and her own delirious joy, Ruby isn't too worried about Grimm attacks.
They stare up at the stars, Penny naming each constellation, and Ruby trying to remember more than two or three.
"They're all so beautiful," she breathes.
"Many of the stars visible are actually dead, but are still visible due to the finite speed of light," Penny says cheerfully.
"That's a little morbid," Ruby says. "I mean, I was just talking about pretty stars."
"My apologies," Penny says. "I was not aware that it was an improper fact to supply. I'll take note of that."
"Don't worry about it!" Ruby insists. "I like your facts, and people who don't are wrong. And you want to help people! That's what matters, really."
Penny's joy is luminescent. And this is sort of perfect, even if it's cold and damp and Ruby's leg is falling asleep.
Never mind. This is completely perfect, including the cold and damp and Ruby's leg, and she's never going to forget anything about this moment. Not the wet grass, or her frozen hands, or Penny's lips warming up her own. Never.
