Chapter 13

The sleep Weiss got that night was absolutely blissful. Her dreams had her portraying a daring Huntress, battling hordes upon hordes of Grimm dragons, flying around with great feathered wings upon her back. She had rescued the fair maiden Rubillia the Rose, and even gotten a kiss for her efforts! The parade in her honour had been on the moon! Her friends had cheered, yelling

WAAA WAAA WAAA WAAA

The sudden alarm from her scroll startled her away from her extravagant adventure. groggily, she swung her arm over to silence the intruder to her dreams. The warm mass of affection that had been spooning against her shifted in her sleep, cuddling closer.

They had fallen asleep on opposite sides of the huge king sized bed, yet somehow Ruby had crossed the eight feet of no-man's land in the middle just to be with Weiss. It was probably the cutest thing she had ever seen the girl do in the eight-odd years that she had known her. Weiss took a few minutes to enjoy the moment, and she could feel all the soft edges of her friend mush themselves against her.

Especially those two spots about midway down her chest

For once, Weiss didn't force her inner pervert away, instead revelling in how her body was feeling at this moment. Warm, happy, and a bit tingly. Wait, tingly?

Knock, knock! It's your friend downstairs!

Okay, now was an appropriate time to shush her inner monologue. At such an early stage in their relationship, Weiss figured it was probably not acceptable to be feeling such a way, lest she be considered brusque or pushy. Although, much was to be said about her ability to hide her feelings. This was the beauty of being female, as one's inner desires weren't broadcast about the room, especially if you were wearing gym shorts. All of her evil thoughts about Ruby could be safely hidden away in her head, confined to the special place she reserved for private time.

Is private time now?

"Fuck off!" Weiss whispered to herself, trying desperately to quell the feelings in her southern regions. In the early morning stages of wakefulness, her brain could barely form coherent ideas, and everything was sort of mushed together, grammar and sentence structure be damned. Very carefully uncoiling herself from her companion, Weiss went to stand up.

Except she couldn't. There was a hand holding her back. She looked down at her chest, only to find a few of the buttons on her pyjama top had been undone.

And Ruby's hand was fully cupped around her left boob.

This is an interesting development

Weiss dared not make a sound, lest she wake Ruby. Very gently, she pried each finger from its hold on her pale skin, cursing as the cool air in the room touched against her now bare breast. When Ruby's sleeping hand had been finally removed, Weiss replaced her presence in the bed with one of the stuffed toys she had secretly packed in her suitcase, and a feeling of annoyance washed over her as bed-mate was quick to replace her with the small plush puppy she had procured.

Weiss stood up and quickly did the buttons on her pyjama shirt back up as she retreated to the spa-sized bathroom. She saw her reflection in the mirror. Her normally pristine white hair was quite dishevelled, looking like she had spent the night doing...less than PG-rated things, despite the fact the two of them had simply gone to bed without incident. Her face was also a mess of seriously red cheeks and a touch of smudged makeup. She hadn't gotten it all off last night, it seemed.

I would've liked to have gotten off last night

Nope. Not gonna think like that today. She remembered her shirt incident. She had purposefully undone her shirt a little, hoping that Ruby would think she was sexy, despite her disappointing bust size (Adequate! Fun sized! Piss off, Yang!). Clearly, Ruby had thought she was a little more than sexy, and chose to undo one more button to get her hands on the goodies.

And I'm totally cool with that

Weiss took a brush to her hair to try and tame the angry white beast. The brush pulled at her hair, the tangles fighting as they attempted to remain in place. But Weiss was stronger than the mop on her head, and soon had it under control. By the time she had finished, most of the pale girl's senses had returned to functioning order and alerted her to the misery that was in her mouth. Her morning breath tasted like death incarnate. Pulling the toothbrush out of its plastic holder in her bag, Weiss enjoyed the happy sensation of the mint-flavoured paste as it removed the offending taste.

Gotta taste good for Ruby

She caught herself looking at the shower. No time this morning, she figured. There will be time for one tonight, after we get to my choice of hotels. Weiss finished with her teeth and went back into the room proper. She eyed the coffee machine, then Ruby, still asleep. Would she try to kiss her good morning, or would she have her coffee first? She strolled over to the machine, opened the tin of instant, and took a whiff.

Fuck me, definitely kiss first.

The aroma from the can was most certainly not the fine Mistralian-press variety that Klein made her every morning, but one of preservative-filled cheap trash that monkey would have cluelessly called coffee if asked to choose between this and a brick. But coffee was coffee, and Weiss needed her fix.

But first, she needed her Ruby.

Strolling over to the edge of the bed, she undid the shirt buttons she had undone, followed the one Ruby had, as well as the one below that. This was her being seriously bold. She parted the top enough at the front to seem like she hadn't noticed, but enough that she hoped the brunette in their bed would notice. Weiss kneeled beside the bed where Ruby's head lay, and gently shook the sleepy girl awake.

"Good morning, Ruby! It's time to wake up!" She said, stretching up the 'up' so it was more than two syllables long. Ruby opened her eyes, squinting and making a pained noise.

"No, it's still sleepytime" Her friend mumbled, shutting her eyes again.

"If Ruby doesn't wake up, she'll miss her morning smooch"

Weiss said this musically, leaning her head closer to Ruby's face. That had worked. Ruby was now fully awake, eyes wide and an excited smile on her face.

Weiss was suddenly pulled back onto the bed and onto Ruby's lap, and she now sat straddling the girl who not twenty seconds before was off in laa-laa land. Two eager hands clasped themselves around her body, pulling her in, a look of desire on the silver eyes before her.

"Okay, okay, calm down, Rose-Petal!"

She was a little shocked at the sudden display of wanton passion. She could feel the body below her shudder at the nickname, the pleasure pooling off her.

Weiss gently reached her head down to Ruby's and planted her lips upon the very inviting ones of her companion. The feeling was so much better than the one she had experienced in her dream, and the girl before her was infinitely more beautiful than the Ruby-facsimile her mind had created for her. The kiss lasted for what seemed to Weiss like two or three hours, but in reality had only been about two or three minutes. Finally separating, Weiss could see Ruby's body pouting as her lips parted again. She briefly thought about kissing her again.

Fuck it, let's do it

Weiss once more embraced the soft pillows of Ruby's lips in her own, and held herself there for a few seconds. Parting again, she pulled herself off of the panting girl and walked back over to the coffee maker. Now she had had her pleasure, it was time for the pain. Of hotel coffee.

Chapter 14

There was heaven in her hands.

The warm brown drink that Weiss had placed in her hands was likely the single best smelling thing since fresh laundry or spent rifle rounds. And certainly the best tasting. Ruby sat on the edge of the bed, still in her pyjamas, and sipped the delicious liquid in her mug

This is what love feels like, I bet

There was no way that the coffee this hotel served was in any way legal, because nothing legal would have tasted this good. Ruby was not normally a coffee drinker, but seeing as they had to get up at six in the morning she had graciously accepted the cup from the disgusted-looking Weiss. Odd, she had thought, as she knew Weiss normally liked this sort of highbrow expensive stuff. Ruby shrugged at the memory.

"Hey Rubes, I'm just gonna get changed, do you mind if I do it here?" Her companion mused, causing Ruby to return her focus back to the room.

"Uh, sure? D'you want me to go into the bathroom, or..."

Ruby's eyes shot open as she watched her friend begin undoing her shirt once more. She was trapped as life seemed to briefly happen in slow-motion as the woman in front of her undid each button one by one. Slowly, methodically. Ruby's heart stopped.

This girl is hazardous to my health

She could only sit, frozen as Weiss reached her hands back up to the lapel of her shirt and went to remove it entirely. Ruby's conscience got the better of her here, and immediately screwed her eyes shut, much to her own annoyance.

"Weiss! What are you doing?!"

Ruby nearly shouted, turning away from the sight she had been enjoying.

"I uh, don't understand? You said you were fine with me changing here? It's not like you haven't seen it before, we were roommates for four years."

Ruby kept her eyes shut and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, but this is different. It's just too...personal. Not that i don't want it, of course..." She was quick to add. "...I just...don't know if we're supposed to... yet"

The bedding beside her shifted, and two arms found their way around her torso. Weiss now sat beside her, one of her famous hugs was now working it's way into the scared girl.

"Hey, listen. I'm sorry I rushed you. I can understand if you are not comfortable yet."

There was a kiss placed on her cheek.

"But we do really need to get dressed. Again, I'm sorry."

Ruby opened her eyes. Weiss had stood up from the bed, had collected her clothes and was strolling to the bathroom. Ruby called after.

"Weiss, wait!" The girl turned "I uh, actually...wouldn't mind watching..."

The last part was mumbled more than it was spoken as Ruby had turned bright red in her seat. Weiss smiled, strolled back over to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe if you're good"

Weiss said, with a wink for good measure. Ruby probably fainted.

Chapter 15

After she had come to her senses and stopped the imaginary blood from flowing out her nose, Ruby got up off the bed to go change and make her face suitable for human viewing. Pulling what she hoped was a good outfit from her bag, Ruby pulled off her pj's and stood for a moment, admiring her naked self in the mirror.

That scar...

The offending tissue glared back at her. Two years prior, there had been an incident on a mission where Ruby had been blindsided by a pack of Beowolves, and having not expected them, fell victim to the sharp claws. The scar looked like she had been given a c-section with a mostly-dull cleaver, and the doctor had even missed a few times. Even Weiss's own scar, which was on her eye, paled in comparison. She felt so...

Ugly

No amount of therapy had fixed this issue. But this was not the time to be toying with her own emotions. Ruby shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and said

"I am Beautiful. There is nothing I cannot do. I. Am Ruby Rose."

Her last therapist had told her to say that mantra once daily, and the day she opened her eyes and saw herself smiling, all would be good. There would be no more pain.

Ruby opened her eyes. She wasn't smiling.

Sighing, she pulled on her clothes, the soft black cotton pants warm on her legs, the hoodie as comforting as her mother's hugs. Except she could no longer take comfort in them. She hadn't had one in twenty years. A single tear came to her eye as she recalled the woman's brave sacrifice in the name of Remnant.

Ruby stood up straight and stared at herself again, a determined look in her face.

"Be strong for Weiss. Be strong for you. We're counting on it."

She brought a smile to her lips by force and departed the bathroom, to see Weiss now dressed in yesterday's cargo pants and a new black turtleneck. A long white coat had been put on as well. Ruby actually thought Weiss looked pretty good, despite her previous dismal attitude. She spoke up.

"Time to go?"

Weiss nodded, and they left the room.

The two girls were back down in the lobby, having just checked out a few minutes prior. Ruby lounged on one of the expensive couches, and watched as Weiss stood at the valet desk, asking to get their car back. It was her turn to drive, after all.

"Red VHI Blaze-Charger, room 636. Should be under the name 'Rose'?" The short woman asked of the man at the desk.

"Of course, Madam, it will be brought around"

They watched as a suit-wearing man who stood an easy six-foot-seven pulled the burgundy truck around, and deposited the keys in Weiss's hand. Weiss smiled at him, and the man smiled back, walking away while saying something barely audible under his breath in Atlesian. Something Weiss had heard.

"...Schmutzig schwuleren..."

This man may have been something like two hundred and fifty pounds, likely all muscle. This hadn't stopped the White Storm. Ruby could see emotion in her partner's eyes, one only described as raw fury. She could only watch as Weiss strolled up behind the offending valet, spin him around and slam him into a wall, facing her. She yelled at him in Atlesian, as he had clearly hadn't expected her to be fluent.

"Würden Sie klug sein, meine Freundin zu respektieren. Sie wollen mich nicht wiedersehen."

The words came from her mouth in a calm tone, but the amount of hatred that was packed behind it could stop a Goliath in it's tracks. The man had turned pale, paler even than the monster that was before him. Whatever he had said, Weiss took offence to, and judging by the way that that the man had turn to look at Ruby, clearly it was about her.

"Schau mich an, Fickfehler..." Weiss lowered her voice and pointed a menacing finger at the man "...Nie weider..."

Weiss released the man from the wall and walked back over, taking Ruby's hand in her own as she pulled her out to the car, still very clearly fuming. Once in the car, Weiss fired up the old engine and looked over at Ruby, who still had no idea what had happened.

"I apologize for what I'm about to do to your tires." she said, dropping the column lever all the way down into first gear. "But they said some rather poor things about us."

Bring the pain, Sexy

Ruby smiled and nodded, as Weiss lay her foot all the way into the floorboards with her right foot, the rear tires unhooking as the four-hundred-fifty cubic inch V8 turned the expensive snow tires into acrid white smoke as they left the xenophobic place in a hurry.

Weiss is hot when she's angry

Chapter 16

I called her my girlfriend!

Without even thinking!

Holy shit!

Weiss was still shaking in her seat ten minutes later back on the highway, shocked at her own outburst. She had even dug up an old swear word she hadn't used in so many years on the man. Fickfehler. Loosely translated, she had said he was an unplanned mistake on his parent's behalf. Literally he was a fucking error. Damn right he was.

Weiss could now understand why she remembered that particular hotel. Her father had taken her there back when he still owned the SDC, so it made sense that this establishment would share his less...accepting views. She suddenly realized that all of the places her father took her to shared this same view.

I suppose I shouldn't be as mad as I am. Ruby handled it well.

The snow was thicker today, falling in great heavy lumps as if the snow was trying to form snowballs as it fell. The road was properly covered now, the mile markers being the only indication there was road at all. The truck tracked straight and true through the thick pack, the expensive snow tires digging in. No car should be without these, Weiss thought to herself as she gently weaved back and forth in her lane to test the tires. It truly was like they were on dry pavement.

Weiss let off the accelerator, as she had been plowing along now at just over one hundred, approaching a car that was travelling along the road with them. Keeping a fair distance, Weiss decided it would be best to just slow down and cruise behind her fellow road user, just in case anything bad were to happen. Weiss did the math. Since they were now travelling at half the speed, they would take twice the time, but only use about two-thirds the fuel.

"Hey Ruby, could you check the map for me and tell me where the next gas stop is?"

Her partner woke up from whatever day dream she was having "Uh, yeah sure. Uh...should be exit 735, in about four hundred kilometres."

"And how far to the next available stop after that?"

"Judging by the kinda vague scale in the corner, about fifty or so kilometres past."

That wasn't so bad, she thought. They'd probably make the hotel by about eleven at this rate. Just enough time for a shower.

With Ruby

Uh-uh. Nope. Focus on driving. Plenty of time for distractions later.

Like Ruby

Weiss's brain was trying to kill her. It had diverted all of the blood from her other organs and extremities directly into her cheeks. There was no discernible reason for her to be thinking like this! Ruby was her friend!

With benefits

Weiss made a pained noise of exasperation. Her partner perked her head up at this, turning to look at her.

"Something the matter, Weiss-Cream?"

"No, no, it's fine. Just frustrated is all. Actually, can you hand me my scroll?"

Ruby complied, and Weiss quickly dialed an all-too familiar number. The line buzzed.

"Hey Sandy, it's me. Yeah, I'm doing pretty good!" There was a pause. Ruby shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hey, listen, are you near your computer right now? You are? Perfect! Would you mind terribly telling me the market value of the Chateau Horlage?"

There was a pause. Weiss's eyes widened

"Reeeeally?"

All was going well in the Federated States of Weiss. This was her chance to get back at the homophobic owners of the place that had insulted her so. It was well within her budget, should she desire. But it seemed...petty. A little childish, too.

But it would be great to knock down, eh?

Not this time. This time, Weiss thought, it was time to handle things like an adult. Like a proper business person.

"Alright. Let the owner know that my company would like to purchase the property rights for the Chateau, and that building permits have been approved to construct a Gay and Lesbian nightclub. No, such permits have not already been approved. Just make them think that. Not as a threat, just like a... aggressive proposition. Ok? Perfect, thank you Sandy. You're the best." Weiss hung up.

Her personal assistant had just agreed to help her fix the problem of Chateau Horlage. It wasn't going to be destroyed, just incentivised to be more accepting.

"Weiss, look out!"

Her eyes fell forward again. There was a flash of brake lights ahead. Then the car they had been following left the road.

"Shit!"

Weiss cried out, stabbing both her feet into the wide brake pedal. The big truck's antique anti-lock system shuddered violently as it tried to keep the mass moving in a straight line. Weiss deftly sawed at the wheel, keeping the nearly three-tonne vehicle from leaving the road as well. Finally coming to a halt, Weiss could see that the car they had been following for the past twenty minutes, a blue Sanus Motors Elude crossover, had travelled about ten metres off the edge of the road, into the snow that was likely a metre and change deep. Thankfully the blue vehicle was still on it's wheels.

"Holy hell! We need to help them!"

Ruby, ever the team leader, nearly shouted as she dove out the passenger door. Weiss quickly put the truck in park and hit the flashers. Grabbing her gloves from where they had fallen on the floor, she joined her companion out in the winter air, watching the anxious girl trudge through the thick white powder to the crashed car. Realizing her mistake, she reached back into the cab and grabbed Ruby's coat, which the latter had forgotten in her haste.

"Ruby! Your Coat!" she called, the thick snow freezing against her pants. Thank the gods she had agreed to wear pants again today, instead of the skirt she had been planning. Ruby had reached the driver door of the small blue crossover, and was knocking on the window. Weiss came up beside her as the driver, a scared looking deer-faunus, rolled the window down.

"Sir! Are you alright?!" Ruby asked, wide eyed and clearly scared as well.

"I-I'm ok. Nothing damaged in here" the man said with a weary grin "Except maybe my ego"

Weiss's heart resumed beating after the short stress-induced heart-attack. She draped the jacket she was holding over her partner's shoulders, and peered in the car. There was the deer-faunus, a dark-skinned woman she guessed was the man's wife, and very luckily no sign of any children. That would have been difficult to deal with.

"Please, if you would step out of the vehicle, I'm sure we can get you unstuck." Weiss said, confident that Ruby would be able to come up with some sort of plan. The man in the car tried to open his door, by the deep snow prevented it.

"I guess this won't be very dignified. Stay here, sweetie, I'll come and dig you out."

The man spoke sideways to his passenger. Probably his wife, Weiss thought. The man began pulling himself out of his open window, allowing the two girls who had come to his rescue steady him so he wouldn't fall into the snow. Weiss could feel the man's muscular shoulders and toned arms, likely from being a hunter, as she extracted him. Once he was standing on his own two feet, the man scratched his head and introduced himself.

"Sorry for the display. The name's Redmond Braun. The lovely lady in the car is my wife, Rosa. I, uh, may have lost control a little."

Ruby beamed at the man

"I'm Ruby, and this lovely lady is my Weiss."

Wait, YOUR Weiss?

I like the way that sounds, actually

"We'd be happy to assist you, sir" Weiss said, shivering a little. It was cold, but not as bad as it had been yesterday. Only a few degrees below.

"One of you two wouldn't happen to be an RAA member would you? I left my membership card in my other coat and I don't remember the number."

Weiss couldn't stop the sly grin from crossing her face. "Well, you might just be the luckiest man around, today sir. For I am Weiss Schnee, CEO of the SDC, which happens to own the Remnant Automobile Association. So you don't need your card today."

Both Ruby and Redmond looked at her, a little dumbfounded. Her company had created the RAA as a marketing technique to provide "free" roadside assistance to, and reach out to the faunus workers in the...SDC dust mines...

Are you serious? This is somehow also offensive? My father's an asshole!

Mentally making note to address this subtle racism at the next board meeting, Weiss wiped the sour expression from her face and replaced it with one of helpfulness.

"Ruby, how would you recommend we assist the fine gentleman?"

Ruby looked puzzled for a moment, looking first at the blue Elude, then to her own Blaze-Charger, then the snow. An idea was forming in her head, Weiss could see the synapses forming new 'help everybody' circuits behind those gorgeous silver eyes.

"Okay. How's this sound. My truck has a winch on it, but it's only rated for eight thousand pounds, and I don't know how much resistance that the snow will give us. The cable is rated for twenty thousand, so we could just use it as a recovery rope."

The man seemed pleased by this, and the three of them put Ruby's plan into action. Weiss got back behind the wheel of the red truck, Ruby began pulling the cable out, and Redmond used a shovel that Ruby kept in her truck and dug his wife out. When the hook of the winch had been snagged on the trailer hitch of Redmond's car, he got back in as Ruby trudged back out of the ditch.

Ruby returned to the front bumper of her truck and grabbed the winch remote, and tried to get the winch to pull itself taught. When it hadn't, She said the three words that made Weiss laugh harder than she ever had before.

"SWISS FUCKIN' CHEESE, why won't you work?!"

Ruby's yell was both uncalled for and amusing. It made Weiss chuckle as she watched the woman through the windshield, smacking the remote against the steel brush-guard. Unplugging the remote from the winch, Weiss watched as Ruby eyed the plug connectors, and rolled her eyes. There was corrosion on the old plug as it hadn't been used in many years, and Ruby was quick to scrape it off with a screwdriver she had conveniently located in her pocket. Plugging it back in, Weiss watched as the cable was pulled taught. Ruby yelled something at her over the low rumbling of the big engine.

"Put it in four-low! Lock it up!"

Weiss looked around for something labelled as such, and upon finding the lever that was tucked way up against the firewall, pulled it all the way back into the position called '4-lo'. She rolled the window down and beckoned Ruby over.

"What do you mean by 'lock it up?' do you want me to lock the doors?"

Ruby jumped up on the running board and leaned into the cab.

"No, see that pull switch on the console?"

Weiss looked where she was pointing

"Pull that out and both differentials will be locked. Wait for the green light on the dash before moving. That system was expensive to install. I've had to repair it a few times myself"

Ruby gave her a sheepish expression. Despite her mechanical knowledge she could still be clumsy. Adorably so.

"Can I get a kiss for good luck?" Weiss asked, being a little bolder than usual. Ruby smiled at her devilishly.

"Now who's eager?"

Ruby gave her a taunting smile, before planting a quick peck on her lips and jumping down from the tall vehicle.

"Okay! Back it up!"

Weiss put the truck into reverse and felt the whole machine shudder as the low-ratio gears transferred all six-hundred-and-seventy-five newton metres of torque to the ground. Very gently pushing the accelerator, she could feel the front end shift itself to the right as it slipped into line with the back of the blue crossover it was tethered to. A bit more throttle and Weiss could feel each of the truck's eight cylinders try to hurl themselves through the heads as the revs climbed. It made a truly raunchy noise. Weiss was enjoying it a bit too much.

"Keep going! It's coming free!"

She could see Ruby mouth to her over the cacophony of muscle. The blue Elude was indeed coming free, as Redmond spun his wheels in reverse to try and aid the big truck. It took a few minutes and a few thousand rpm but eventually Weiss had pulled the stuck vehicle from the deep snow of the ditch. Redmond and Rosa returned to their car after many rounds of handshakes and thank-yous and were on their way. The two girls sat in the truck for a few minutes, enjoying the good feeling that helping someone brought.

"You know, Weiss?" Ruby spoke first "I've been a Huntress for five years now, and that was the first time I actually felt like I was helping someone. And there wasn't any Grimm involved!"

Weiss smiled at her friend, and thought about her own line of work. She had spent the past five years as CEO undoing every misdeed and illegal action her father had implemented to try and bring her company back to the way it was when her grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, had owned it some thirty-five years prior.

"I feel the same way, Ruby."

"I love you."

"I love you too"

They kissed again.