Special Thanks

Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people

who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!

Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other

person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!

Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!

(Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!

Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)

Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 15

Weiss walked into the living room behind Ruby while laughing happily. They had just finished eating dinner and cleaning up in the kitchen and were ready to relax and talk. They had been enjoying each others company for some time now and while Weiss should probably be getting home, she really didn't want to. Besides, she had yet to ask Ruby to attend Velvet's dance with her.

Ruby jumped onto the couch with a giggle and looked back at Weiss. She smiled in response and decided that she was going to ask the other girl soon. She just needed a bit time to mentally prepare herself first.

"Hey, Ruby? I am going to use the restroom real quick. I will be back in a few, okay?" Weiss said with a smile.

"Oh! Yeah, the bathroom is just down the hall." Ruby said with her own smile as she pointed in the direction she meant.

"Thank you, Ruby." Weiss said as she turned and started to walk. After reaching the bathroom she entered but only to lean against the door and start breathing nervously.

'Alright, Weiss. You can do this. I do not know why you are so nervous. It is not like you are asking her on a date. Well, I guess it could actually be seen that way… ' Weiss said, starting a long mental debate with herself as to whether this was a good idea or not. Eventually, she came to a conclusion though and started to settle her breathing.

After calming herself, Weiss put a smile on her face and left the restroom she had been in. She started walking back to the living room and only faltered when she, by chance, looked through a doorway and saw dozens of carved and sculpted roses. The sight widened the smile on her face as she thought about what sort of big plan the other girl had for them. The thought also calmed her nerves. After all, it was just Ruby. Right?

Ruby sat up from her laying position on the couch when Weiss walked in, the girl's brilliant smile present as always. Weiss quickly walked over and sat where Ruby's head had just been laying before either of them spoke.

"Heya, Weiss. Whatcha want to do?" Ruby asked before letting her head fall back down on Weiss' lap. Weiss let out a small squeak of surprise as Ruby just continued to smile up at her, obviously waiting for an answer.

"I am not too sure. Do you have any preferences?" Weiss asked. She wanted the two of them to be doing something before she actually asked. That way they had something to turn towards if it turned awkward.

'Maybe I am overthinking it though and should just ask.'

"Well, we could just take a nap. That sounds fun!" Ruby said with a giggle as she snuggled in closer. Weiss' heart rate started to slowly climb as the other girl wiggled around.

"Before we do that though, I have a question for you." Ruby stopped moving and gave her a curious look.

"M'kay, well go ahead and ask. I'm all ears." Weiss sighed as she thought about whether this was a good idea or not.

"So, remember how Velvet came into work a little while back?"

"The old friend from way back when? Blake's friend too right?"

"Yes, that one. Well, anyways, after the meetings had finished she invited me to attend an event. I am allowed to bring a plus one and I thought that you would like to go with me." Ruby only stared up at her, eyes wide. Weiss started to get nervous when she didn't get an immediate answer.

"But isn't Velvet Blake's friend? Why not ask her so that they can see each other." Ruby asked with a frown. Weiss started realized that if she didn't come up with an excuse that this would start to look like a date or something, which she definitely wasn't trying to ask about. Definitely.

"Oh, actually I did ask her first. But apparently, she has some sort of plan? I was not supposed to know about it." Weiss fibbed nervously. Ruby narrowed her eyes and stared for a moment before grinning.

"I would love to go Weiss but if you go to your old friend's party, who is supposedly very well off, then wouldn't that alert other people to you still being around and attract unwanted attention to you?" Weiss' shoulder dropped at the thought. Ruby was right of course and she had been silly to forget about that. She had just been overjoyed at the thought of doing something like that with Ruby.

"Yeah, you are right." Weiss sighed.

"Well, instead of a public dance or party how about we have a small one for all our friends? We can invite Yang, Blake, and Velvet. Maybe even that Seraine person you told me about. Oh! Or that Jaune dude. Maybe he'll grow a pair and ask that Pyrrha chick as his date, hmm?" Ruby said, poking Weiss' side. The platinum-haired girl smiled before nodding. Sure, this wasn't a big fancy party but if it was something she could do with Ruby? Well, in that case, she really couldn't complain.

"Alright, that sounds like a great plan. But we can discuss it in more depth at a later time. For now, let us just relax. It has been a long day after all." Weiss laughed with Ruby at that thought.

"Awesome! I'll just put in a movie and grab a blanket or two. Because what's a movie night without a blanket on a couch?" Ruby said as she hopped up to find something to watch. Weiss looked around the room to see if she could find the blankets without going through everything but quickly gave up. They weren't likely to be in this room anyways.

"And last but not least, the blanket!" Ruby said as she popped a movie in and jumped up onto the couch, landing on her knees and hanging over the back. She came up a few seconds later with a few blankets in her arms, which she wasted no time tossing over both of them.

After she finished doing all of that, Ruby promptly lay back down on the couch and pulled out a remote. Weiss smiled as the girl's head lay back onto her lap and the movie started. Ruby lay on her side to get a better view as Weiss sat upright still.

"This is going to be a good one. It's one of my favorite movies!" Ruby said.

"I am sure that I will love it." Weiss said as she unconsciously began to run her hand through the other girls short hair.

"This is gonna be a great night." Ruby said with a sigh. Weiss only smiled in agreement.

The first thing Ruby noticed when she awoke the next morning was the comforting warmth around her. She snuggled closer to it as memories of the previous night slowly returned to her awakening brain. As all the pieces of the night were clicking together she heard a light mumbling and the warmth around her tighten ever so slightly.

Ruby opened one of her eyes to look up at Weiss' sleeping form happily and let out a sigh before squeezing the other girl's waist lightly. She was answered with a squeeze in return and so she did the only thing she could think of that was reasonable and so she squeezed again.

A light giggle escaped when Weiss squeezed back once more, still obviously asleep. That seemed to be the tipping point though as Weiss' eyes slid open. Ruby stared at her nervously for a little while but relaxed when Weiss smiled and nuzzled her with a sigh.

"Morning there Snow Angel." Ruby mumbled.

"Quiet, you dolt." Came the muffled reply as Weiss spoke into Ruby's hair. A yawn quickly followed. Ruby giggled at the words.

'I think I should ask soon.'

"It's about time to wake up and eat some breakfast. I'm kinda hungry." Ruby said as her stomach started grumbling. Weiss groaned at that.

"Of course you are." Weiss sighed. She released Ruby so they could get up. Ruby rolled off the couch, gathering all the blankets around her before she went over the ledge and landed on her hands and knees. She let out a giggle as she landed.

"Well, then let's go make something! Pancakes maybe!" Ruby said. Weiss only rolled her eyes with a smile before stretching out and standing up from the couch. Ruby stood up next to her.

"At least this time I do not have to go into work early. I am only expected in the afternoon today."

"Yay! That means you won't just run off and leave me all to myself today." Ruby replied, throwing in a pout for good effect. It seemed to work as Weiss' eyes widened.

"I am sorry. I just did not think you would be spending the night. Not that it was unwelcome though!" Weiss rushed to defend herself as Ruby tried to suppress her laughter. It wasn't long before the laughter won out and Weiss stopped what she was saying.

"Why you little…" Weiss pouted in response to Ruby's laughing, which promptly shut her up and made her eyes widen.

"Oh my goodness… You look so adorable when you pout Weiss!" Ruby said, bursting into laughter once more and wrapping Weiss in a hug. The older girl fought back at first but quickly relaxed and reciprocated the hug.

"Let us just make you some food. Before you starve to death or resort to eating me instead." Weiss joked. Ruby let her go and Weiss resumed her walk to the kitchen.

'Oh, I don't have to be starving in order to have the desire to eat you.' Ruby thought with a small smirk. After a moment her thoughts caught up to her and her eyes widened. Yang had apparently been rubbing off and so she quickly brushed those thoughts away and ran to catch up.

A good half an hour passed before they were once again seated on the couch with plates full of pancakes and the TV turned on to the news channel. They weren't really paying much attention to it though and were much more focused on their conversation.

"How about the beginning of fall? We could make it a summer party or something like that." Weiss suggested.

"We could have a beach party!" Ruby said as Weiss developed a steadily growing blush while staring ahead for a few minutes.

"Uh, Weiss? Good or bad idea?"

"Um, I do not think that would be a great idea…" Weiss said distantly. Ruby pouted.

"Awww, darn. Beach parties are always fun. But how about we have it at the park? You know, the one we met at? Not many people go there after all."

"I like that idea. If we do it in the evening we could hang lights from the trees." Weiss replied as Ruby gasped.

"That's a great idea! Oh my gosh, I can't wait for this already!" Ruby gushed.

"Well, we only have a few months until then at most. It gives us plenty of time to plan."

"How about instead of spending so long planning, we make it earlier? Maybe mid-summer instead! That way we don't have to wait so long!" Ruby beamed happily at the idea. If it were to be in, say a month, then she would have plenty of time to finish her plans.

"But we need to make thorough plans and besides-" Weiss started.

"Things will be fun if we don't plan every single step. So how about, instead of in a few months, we give it one month? Instead of the beginning or middle of fall, we do it in the middle of summer!" Ruby said, proud of her idea. Weiss only sighed.

"Ruby, the middle of summer almost past. It is mid-summer right now. In fact, it is almost the end of summer." Ruby stared at Weiss with wide eyes.

"When did that happen? It was, like, mid-spring last I checked." Ruby said blandly. Weiss only gave off a small smirk.

"You mean, back when we first met? I guess it is surprising that it has been almost three months."

"It's been three months?! Holy crap, the time just flew by didn't… it…" Ruby trailed off as the TV caught her attention. Weiss seemed to notice and directed her attention in the same direction.

It was the news station that was currently playing. Normally they wouldn't have paid it any mind but Ruby had noticed out of the corner of her mind the mention of three more sets of murders. Among the victims were two vaguely familiar faces. Emerald and Mercury. There were no last names listed for them but Ruby recognized their faces more than their names.

"Are those…?" Weiss quietly asked.

"Yeah. I guess we don't have to worry about being followed anymore?" Ruby tried. Weiss nodded slowly but didn't seem wholly convinced about that. Although Ruby didn't feel too convinced either.

"If they got killed the night they decided to report back to that boss person they were talking about then I think we have bigger problems than those which come with being followed." Weiss said, voice still quiet.

"Well, then it's probably a good thing that we aren't actually going to that party thing I guess." Ruby said as Weiss nodded in response.

"True enough."

"It'll all be fine, Weiss. I would say that we should go report to the police but I'd rather not be a murder suspect for a string of gruesome killings." Ruby said as she wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulder comfortingly. Weiss let out a smile and returned the hug.

"Maybe we should relocate though. I am pretty sure someone knows where we both live and that is not exactly something I am comfortable with." Weiss said with a sigh. Ruby nodded and thought. It wasn't too long until a thought passed by that made her nervous and yet also seemed like it would work.

"Well, my sister was planning on moving in with Blake soon. They wanted a new apartment altogether and so I'm sure we can borrow Blake's old one." Weiss stared at Ruby for a while. Ruby's innocent smile started to fade as what she said started to sink in.

"I mean, we don't have to do that. It just seemed like a quick and easy solution until things died down. Especially since Blake still has that place rented out for a few more months and they wanted to move out soon." Weiss smiled at the quick rambling explanation. Ruby slowed to a stop when she noticed that.

"What about all of your art? And someone could just follow me home from work seeing as how they probably know where that is." Came the reply. Ruby smiled when she realized that her idea had been taken well.

"Most of what I currently have is for one special occasion actually. If we waited until after that then I won't have much to move. As for your work, can't you take a little bit of sick leave or something? Maybe request some time off? They can't follow you if you're not around." Ruby said happily.

"When is this special occasion? We can probably wait until then."

"Before our party thing is over. Regardless of when we hold it, I can make sure it's done before then." Ruby said, putting on a happy smile. The party was when she planned to do this anyways. Weiss hummed thoughtfully.

"How about a month then? Just like you suggested earlier." Weiss suggested.

"That sounds perfect. We can set an exact date later though. You need to get to work sometime soon though. Which means you need to go take a shower and get these clothes washed in the next few hours." Ruby stated as she pulled the two of them up so they were standing.

"I suppose you are right. Do you have anything I can borrow while my clothes are washed though?" Weiss said as they headed down the hall together.

"Of course. I'll get everything ready while you get cleaned up for work." Ruby said with a smile. Weiss gave her a weird look but complied. After the door shut behind the platinum-haired girl, Ruby went and did just as she had promised.

A/N:

Hey! Sorry that this is a day late! I got into a really

bad writing ditch in this past week. I wasn't

really able to do much in the way of writing

until Tuesday night. At which point I did as much writing

as I could in hopes of getting my chapter out on time.

Obviously, that didn't work so I settled for the next

best thing - as soon as possible. I know it wasn't

very exciting or all that amazing, but I wanted to

at least give you all something this week.

But onto the next topic! So we have Weiss asking

Ruby to the dance! And then that idea being

completely shut down because they didn't want

to be murdered or something like that lol.

Do you all think something else is going

to happen instead now that they aren't planning

on going? And what in the world could

Ruby be scheming up at a time like this?

Oh, and Yang? Please stop corrupting our pure little

Ruby. That's Weiss job. For later. After the story is over. (Maybe)