Edit: I noticed that I forgot to add some of them fancy horizontals. Sorry for that, they've been added!


Weiss was concerned. She dressed distractedly, thoughts focused entirely upon Ruby. She still wasn't one hundred and one percent absolutely certain about Ruby's feelings. At this point, it almost felt like Ruby was trying to avoid getting close to Weiss while appeasing the heiress as well. To say she wasn't frustrated would by lying.

She gave little amount of attention to her outfit for today; a simply beige blouse with tight blue jeans would do fine. She had today partially planned, starting with a trip to a modest café for dinner, followed by a waltz around Atlas city until they got tired enough to return home. It was almost a direct repeat of their last outing yesterday, which was Weiss' plan. Ruby was all she could think about and it was beginning to take a toll. Weiss couldn't even look at her partner during breakfast this morning. They had been so intimate last night that the line had almost been crossed.

Weiss desperately needed closure. Spending all day together could be a good way to get it.

"Weiss!" Ruby called, drawing out her name for a very long time. Of course Ruby knew where Weiss was, she was just doing what Ruby's do.

"Stop rushing me." Weiss called back, brushing her hair quickly in a mirror and deciding to let it hang loose for today. She thought Ruby would appreciate it more, and really, Weiss only wanted Ruby's attention. It was no longer just a deep crush. It was critical that Weiss either made something happen or the two let it go. Somehow, the later made Weiss' stomach clench.

"Hurry up, then!" Ruby insisted, and Weiss huffed to herself. There wasn't much she could do but hurry up; Ruby would just continuously pester at her.

"Alright, I'm coming. Calm yourself." Weiss said, exiting her closet and giving Ruby a look. The brunette stuck her tongue out, and Weiss made it a point to not react to it.

"Sooo, where are we going?"

"I've told you multiple times, Ruby." Weiss said as she collected her things. "Stop making me repeat things to you."

Ruby blew a raspberry at Weiss as she slumped down onto Weiss' bed. "I don't wanna go anywhere, Weiss!" Ruby announced, and Weiss dropped her purse and spun around on her heel, pointing a finger in Ruby's direction.

"Listen here, dolt! We are not spending the entire day cooped up in my fancy-pantsy bedroom!" Weiss said, and Ruby sighed, rolling her eyes.

"But I like it here, Weiss! We have so much fun and stuff, and it's so cozy! Plus, we can't really bake on the sidewalk, can we?"

"I probably could." Weiss muttered, denying logic. "Look, I'd just like to treat you to some nice stuff while we're out here and maybe, you know, do something..." Weiss trailed off, letting words roll silently off her tongue.

Ruby eyed her strangely, then gave her a half smile. "Weiss, I really wouldn't mind going somewhere if you really wanna."

"I do." Weiss pouted, and Ruby was quick in getting up.

"Alright princess, where to?" Ruby happily asked, and Weiss made a mental note on pouts.

"So, I wanted to go to this cafe that's in town. It's called Spice and, to be honest, has too strong of a ginger smell to it. However, it's really nice." Weiss said, clasping her hands together with satisfaction. At last, things were going to plan.

Ruby hurriedly dressed herself in Weiss' closet, coming out dressed in a pair of black jeans and a red t-shirt. It was plain, and Weiss had issues not commenting on it despite her own lack of exoticness. "How do I look?"

"Appetizing." Weiss mumbled, shifting through her purse to make sure she had everything, and, most importantly, her scroll. "Now, lets go."

The made it just out the front gate of Weiss' families sprawling mansion of insane grandiose before Ruby asked, "Did you call me appetizing?"

Weiss missed a step, grew hot in her face and shrugged in response.


"There, look. Isn't it nice?" Weiss asked proudly, pointing out the cafe. Ruby hummed in response, and Weiss was pleased. It's chocolate brown and caramel coloured exterior was pleasant to look at, and the quaint chalkboard sign outside the front door saying "Come in and have some sugar and spice" gave it a very nice dash of charm.

"Yang would totally appreciate that." Ruby chuckled as they entered the building, being assaulted with smells of pies, doughnuts, cakes, pastries, soups, coffee, tea and other such things immediately. Above all else was, impressively, a strong scent of ginger pervading over everything else. "Wow, you weren't being honest enough." Ruby commented.

"It's... Not that bad." Weiss said, smiling at a waiter who motioned at them. Weiss was a common patron at the small establishment and was also a great tipper, which made her a costumer the cafe was always happy to see.

"It's suffocating." Ruby murmured back at Weiss, following her to an empty table near the side window facing the road.

Weiss glared reproachfully at Ruby, who smiled apologetically and obediently took a seat at the round table. "I think it's rather cozy." Weiss said.

"Alright, alright. It isn't as bad as I'm saying it is. Actually, I kinda like it." Ruby said, holding her hands up in defeat.

Weiss smiled and playfully swatted Ruby's wrist, and then they both giggled. How easy this was. And yet, thought Weiss, It's just so hard to forget last night. Not for the first time today, Weiss wondered if Ruby was still only trying to lead this on for as long as possible until she either found a way out of it or, and this is what scared Weiss the most, decided to go with it just to make Weiss happy. She twisted the hem of her blouse into a knot with an idle hand as a waiter approached.

The waiter was female and pretty, and Weiss didn't recognize her. "Hi, can I take some orders?" She asked, and Weiss noted a sultry tone to her voice. Immediately she was put on edge.

"I'd like a French Onion soup with some tea. She'll just eat cookies." Weiss said, and the waitress wrote it down and left with a wink.

"I may have liked something else you know." Ruby said, and Weiss raised her eyebrow at her. "May have." Ruby repeated. "So, I dunno. Is there a real reason we're here?"

The question startled Weiss a little, who stirred in her seat for a moment in response. She didn't expect Ruby to be so blunt about it. "No, not really. I just thought that it would be nice to go out for today and maybe..." Weiss trailed off, ending with a shrug. It wasn't like her to be unable to give a full answer, and she was starting to have doubts about her plans.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Weiss and folded her arms across her chest. "Nah, it's alright, vitamin D is good for us."

Weiss inwardly sighed, grateful that Ruby let it drop. The waitress came back then, serving Ruby first. "Alright. Uncounted amount of cookies for the cute one," She said, giving Ruby a plate of cookies with various flavours, all topped off with a cute smile that made Ruby giggle.

When she tried to serve Weiss, Weiss interrupted any pleasantries with a curt "Thank you," and took the soup from her. The waitress didn't seem to mind, flashing Ruby another smile. Weiss was stunned and more than a little jealous about the stolen Ruby giggle.

Ruby nibbled on a chocolate chip cookie about the size of a spread out hand while she absently played with a strand of hair. "So, did that waitress just flirt at you?" Weiss asked as soon as the aforementioned was out of earshot.

Ruby shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe? Gosh, wouldn't that be kinda cool? Imagine me being hit on!" Ruby gushed, and Weiss' eyebrow twitched. "I mean, Yang always gets hit on, and people are too nervous to hit on you, but me? Whoa."

"Yes, how incredible." Weiss murmured, spooning hot soup into her mouth. It burned her tongue but tasted incredible. I thought I hit on her last night. Weiss thought bitterly.

"Man, that's crazy. Wait till I tell the girls. Gosh, they're gonna be really... Excited." Ruby's voice trailed off, and Weiss cringed. Ruby had hit a nerve they'd both been trying to avoid recently; there were only two more weeks left to their vacation, and to say they were apprehensive about ending their alone time would be a lie.

"Yeah, I bet they will. Hey, how's your cookies? As great as I told you they'd be?" Weiss asked, immediately trying to change the subject.

Ruby brightened, her downcast expression being swept away. "Oh, yeah! They're amazing! I wish Vale had something this great."

Weiss smiled proudly. "People tend to specialize to extremities here in Atlas."

"I've noticed." Ruby said, stuffing her face immediately afterwards with a new cookie and choking on it when Weiss' face went from proud to confused to insulted in the span of two seconds.

"Ruby, you're inability to appreciate being good at things upsets me." Weiss said, making a tsk'ing sound.

Ruby swallowed gave Weiss a chocolate stained grin, and Weiss laughed quietly. A silence fell over them and lasted until they'd finished eating. It was a comfortable silence where they appreciated one another's company. When they were done, Weiss slipped the waitress a substantial tip. They smiled at each other coldly, and Weiss was shocked to see a glint of challenge in her pair of green, sparkling eyes.

Ruby smiled at the waitress, who smiled back a little too warmly for Weiss' taste. Then the waitress gave Ruby a wink not unlike the same she'd given Weiss, accompanied by a small wave. Ruby waved back, gave a small titter and blushed, looking away. Weiss watched the exchange with growing fury and jealousy; this was absurd, after all.

"Alright, Ruby. Let's go, we have a date to catch." Weiss suddenly announced, and Ruby almost fell over. Weiss didn't give the waitress another look as she lead Ruby out of the cafe.

Outside, Weiss took a deep breath of air. There. That should keep that low rent whore away.

"Heya, Weiss?"

"What is it, Ruby?" Weiss sighed, already in the process of forgiving Ruby's own flirtations. After all, it was Ruby's first time.

"What's that about a date?" Ruby asked slyly, but Weiss had it covered already. She'd made the plan up on the spot.

She turned to face Ruby with an air of urgency that the smile on Ruby's face fell to a small curve in her lips. "Ruby, that girl in there goes through relationships like a chain smoker. You'll catch something if you interact with that, trust me. I know people."

Ruby was still for a moment, the remnants of her smile turning into a pair of pursed lips while she processed what Weiss told her. Then she shrugged, her smile returning. "Whatever, it was just cool to actually flirt with someone. Thanks for the warning, I guess." Ruby rubbed her tummy, then stretched. "So, no date then?"

It was a joke, or at least sounded like one, but Weiss still felt bad when she answered "No, Ruby, there's no date."

"Alrighty, so I don't get to flirt for the rest of today. Shucks." Ruby giggled, and Weiss forced herself to laugh with her. There was a bad sinking feeling in her stomach; she needed more Ruby time.

"Come on, there's a fair almost year-round here in Atlas, we should go." Weiss suggested.

"Cool, I haven't been to one since I lived on Patch!" Ruby agreed, enthusiasm almost oozing out of her ears.

As the cafe was passing out of view, Weiss turned around and gave the cafe a look. It would be awhile since she visited again.


"Whoa." Ruby breathed, silver eyes wide as she stared at the massive snowflake-Ferris wheel that towered over the fair grounds, glistening in the sunlight. It's metal was beyond shined and smooth and shaped beautifully and seamlessly. It was a cultural pride for the citizens of Atlas and a matter of family pride for Weiss, who's family name was stamped on the base of the elegant construction. "It's gorgeous."

"It's only really that impressive when you don't see it every day of your life." Weiss admitted, trying to downplay it just a little. Ruby just continued to stare at it as Weiss got them admitted. Soon enough the two of them found themselves loading into one of the wheel's carts. The sun was still high in the sky, three pm only just approaching.

Weiss watched Ruby intently as they rose higher up into the sky. She was swinging her legs and gazing down at the crowds below, a look of content on her face.

"So, do you like it?" Weiss asked, drawing Ruby's attention back to herself. Ruby grinned and half hugged Weiss, who barely stiffened from the contact.

"This is really cool, Weiss." Ruby drew back a little, creating that uncomfortable close distance between their faces that Weiss was growing to hate and love. "Thanks for asking me out here with you."

"No problem." Weiss said quietly, allowing herself to appreciate every little detail of Ruby's face, such as the narrow bridge of her nose and the largeness of her eyes, or the fullness of her lips. Damnit, not the lips again.

Ruby drew back then, breaking the brief close contact far too soon for Weiss' taste and turning her attention up to the sky where she proceeded to cloud gaze. Weiss didn't join her for a very long time, busy studying Ruby. There was an unmistakable brilliance to her that Weiss couldn't deny. She also didn't understand it. There was nothing there that solely explained why Weiss felt so strongly about Ruby because it was all of Ruby. Ever single fibber of her ridiculous partner was attractive to Weiss, and that scared her.

Eventually Weiss did turn her attention off of Ruby, but she didn't point it at the sky. Instead she studied her hands and wondered whether or not this was the right thing to do. They had the perfect opportunity; as paired huntresses part of a team, they'd be together for the rest of their life, more or less. She also recalled that dating your colleagues is a bad game plan.

Before they knew it they'd spent the evening ascending and descending at a slow pace. Weiss had eventually just simply paid for a set of consecutive rides, neither really willing to leave. At some point, she didn't really know when, they'd fallen into a slumber. Weiss came to as soon as they reached the pinnacle of their climb, only to find Ruby staring off into the distance with a sombre look in her eyes. It would have made for a nice picture.

Instead of talking, Weiss broke the silence with a cute yawn and stretched, alerting Ruby to her wakefulness. Ruby's demeanour immediately changed to a more common Ruby attitude, smile and all. "Weiss! You've been sleeping for like," Ruby paused, "A long time!"

Weiss snorted. Her body was sore and her muscles stiff, and she'd give anything for a bathroom trip. "Ready to go?" She asked Ruby, who nodded, if not mildly reluctantly. It amazed Weiss how much of a difference there was between the Ruby she knew a year ago, the same Ruby who couldn't sit through a history class.

As they reached the end of their ride, they got off; Weiss also found out they had two more go-rounds paid for. "Alright, wait for me here. I'm going to use the bathroom, unless you need to go to." Weiss told her, leaving Ruby off at the entrance. Ruby shook her head and stayed behind.

Weiss was only gone for a few minutes and then they were off, soon walking aimlessly down a sidewalk in a city that dusk was setting over increasingly fast.

"So, how'd you enjoy today?"

Ruby shrugged, shoving her hands deep into her jeans. "It was fun. I liked the Snow-wheel."

Weiss frowned, sensing something was off. Today was supposed to have made Ruby happy and have them forget about last night. "Ruby, if there's something you want to talk about, I'm all ears."

Ruby seemed to consider Weiss for a moment, which made the heiress uneasy, before suddenly perking up and popping her shoulders with a great shoulder roll that brought her hands out of her pockets. "Nah, I'm just tired. Sitting so long made me lethargic." She gave Weiss a reassuring smile.

Weiss smiled back, deciding to let it go at that. "Nice choice of words."

Ruby did a quick twirl on her heel, making a popping sound with her mouth. "Ayup. I've been trying to be more heiress-like."

Weiss scoffed playfully, "As if you could ever pull off heels."

Ruby's shoulders sagged as she pretended to mope. "Fair point, princess. You win this one."

They both had a laugh at Ruby's expense, and the banter continued for some time. Eventually it passed into silence, in which they drew really close to each other and quietly observed their surroundings while not really looking at them, loosing themselves in thought.

"Huh." Ruby said first, breaking the silence. They were standing outside of the Schnee manor, the sun having almost completely vanished. "We're home."

Weiss eyed Ruby, realizing that until now, it had always been "We're at you're place," or "Hey look, it's you're home!" Weiss thought she liked the sound of Ruby calling it that. "I guess so." Weiss muttered, realizing then how tired her legs were. Her feet were sore, and her back could really use some lying down. "I call the shower first." She said, beating Ruby to it.

"Damn." Ruby cursed, and Weiss grinned triumphantly.

Showering took little time. In truth, Weiss was just excited to spend more time embracing Ruby. Just some more time as it is. Then I'll have use talk. She thought as she dried off, donning a pair of silk shorts and a loose tank-top.

When she left her bathroom and entered the bedroom, Ruby eagerly dashed past her and took over the bathroom immediately. Weiss, while a bit ruffled, was able to forgive her regardless. A couple minutes passed into fifteens, and Weiss sighed longingly. Of course Ruby decided to take a long shower when all Weiss wanted to do was sleep.

Ruby eventually came out thirty minutes later, wearing a pair of panties and an overshirt. Weiss was embarrassed to see her in such a little-dressed state, but she didn't comment. "So, sleep time?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head, looking as if she was mulling something over in her head. "Hey, Weiss... What's, you know, the deal here?"

Weiss' heart skipped a beat, clever enough to know what Ruby was referring to. "What do you mean?" She asked, playing the fool. She drew the blanket over her bare knees.

Ruby rolled her eyes, coming over to sit on the bed next to Weiss, who instinctively drew closer. It went over her head that she'd have shifted away only a few weeks ago. "Like right there. You're like super," Ruby stopped, searching for the right words, "intimate, I guess, but at the same time you're not and it's... Well, it's confusing me."

Weiss pursed her lips, turning her eyes to the canopy above. "Ruby, please don't make me acknowledge anything yet."

Weiss' shutout seemed to silence and hurt Ruby, who nodded and slipped over Weiss' frame and into bed, turning her back to her. A lump formed in Weiss' throat and she swallowed it. Ruby too was being worn thin by this. "I'm sorry, Ruby." Weiss said quietly, hoping for a reply.

"S'okay, Weiss." Ruby murmured sleepily.

"Thanks." Weiss said, switching the lights off manually and slipping into the blankets. When no recognition came, Weiss laid her head down in her pillow and thought about them. She didn't think it would be right to get too close to Ruby right now, but she craved the contact. She gave in to herself and spooned Ruby from behind, who, to Weiss' relief, shifted into the embrace rather than away.

And then they slept.


Hi! It has been a VERY long time. I have no excuses, other than that I moved provinces. Still doesn't excuse why I took so long. My apologies, and I hope you guys will still support and enjoy the rest of the story. From me to you, please enjoy.