As usual, this has been beta'd by the wonderful Wendy Crescent. Please give her a round of applause! And maybe some of of those adorable teddy bear emoticons you can do on Skype... those are great too.
Also, just to give the setting, this story is somewhere around December 20th at the moment. So that's why Ruby is caroling.
Also, the author's note at the end will be long and a little grumpy, just as a heads up. I have not had a good time lately and I've been gone for a while.
ALSO LINIRA WON THE CONTEST ON MY PROFILE AND I SWEAR I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE FOR YOU I PROMISE!
"Christmastiiiiime is-" Ruby caroled.
Weiss's reply was a book, thrown at an impressive speed for someone who was lying on a couch.
"Ow! Weiss! You can be such a scrooge!" Ruby wailed, rubbing her head where the hardcover had slammed into it. Weiss let herself have a little self satisfied smirk at that.
"I am not. Now give me my book back." She demanded, holding a hand out expectantly.
"No! You threw it at me, it's mine now!"
Weiss said nothing, but her narrowed eyes flicked to the stack of books piled on top of the nearby coffee table, within easy reach.
With a sulky look, Ruby handed the book back, and Weiss promptly began reading again.
"Weiss!" She groaned after another thirty seconds. "I'm bored! This was supposed to be like, you know, fun hang-out time! You're not hanging out!"
"We had 'fun hang-out time.' We went to the mall and had a nice lunch. Now I'm reading, and I don't want to be bothered." Weiss replied curtly. She kept on stubbornly staring at the page, despite not being able to concentrate with all of Ruby's yammering. Just in case Ruby didn't get the point, she added; "I was planning on reading this today, and you were supposed to have gone back home an hour ago. I'm not changing my plans because we're snowed in, so quit bothering me."
"But Weiss!" Ruby repeated, sitting down next to her stomach, which she poked. Repeatedly.
"Stop that."
"Weiss!"
Weiss closed the book with a snap. "Fine. What do you want."
"Well less glaring for starters..." Ruby mumbled.
Weiss continued to glare.
Ruby huffed out a sigh at her girlfriend's attitude, then thought for a moment. "Let's go outside!" She said excitedly.
"There's snow two feet deep!" Weiss protested.
"Exactly! As long as we're stuck in it, we might as well enjoy it!" Ruby said, as if it were perfectly obvious.
Weiss rubbed at her temples. "This is exactly why you are never coming here again when there is even the slightest chance of snow. Yang might be all excited to go get wet and miserable, but I am not. Being stuck with you when you want to go outside is a nightmare."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, I'm like a small, annoying child. But you know I'm gonna bug you until you do it." She stood up, and offered Weiss her hands. "C'mon little Weissy! Upsy daisy! Let's go play!"
Weiss gritted her teeth and stood up without Ruby's assistance. "Fine." She snapped. "I'll go get my coat."
Weiss was almost comically furious, standing outside in the snow. It was wet, and it was cold, and some of it was soaking into her boots. They squished when she walked, and she did not like it one bit.
Ruby, on the other hand, was acting exactly like a small child. She trundled around in her heavy winter gear, and would probably be dancing if she weren't wearing big heavy boots.
"I ought to just get a dog." Weiss muttered to herself.
"I heard that!" Ruby yelled, sitting up from a pile of snow she had tripped into.
"I don't care!" Weiss shot back.
Ruby let out an exaggerated groan. Then she said, "You know what you are? A scrooge. It's almost Christmas Weiss! And there's snow! Enjoy yourself!" And with that, she dived back for the ground, disappearing in white powder.
Weiss thought about that, and was suddenly struck with an idea. She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow...
Ruby's head popped out of the snow a moment later and was suddenly hit with a snowball. And if Weiss could throw lying down, she could really throw standing up. Ruby was so surprised she fell backwards, coughing and sputtering.
"What is it with you and throwing stuff at my head!" She yelled.
"Don't be a scrooge, Ruby." Weiss shot back. "Snowball fights are very much part of the Christmas tradition."
"Oh you are gonna pay..." Ruby growled. Instead of going for strategy, she charged forward with an armload of snow, tackling Weiss and stuffing handfuls of the white powder inside her coat.
Weiss shrieked in a very undignified way. "Ruby! Oh that's cold! Ruby cut it out!"
Ruby showed no signs of stopping so Weiss retaliated, tickling at Ruby's neck.
The other girl burst into giggles and squirmed around, trying to trap Weiss's fingers with her head. "Okay, I surrender, I surrender! Stop!" She managed between giggles.
She lay her head down on Weiss's chest, both of them panting heavily. Struck by a sudden impulse, one of Weiss's hands hesitantly pulled the other girl just a little closer. They lay in the snow, neither of them moving, just enjoying the feeling.
Until Weiss sneezed.
"That's it!" She declared, spilling Ruby off of her and brushing herself off. "We're going inside before one of us gets pneumonia!"
Ruby knew better than to protest as Weiss dragged her inside the hotel lobby. The secretary at main desk gave them an annoyed look, but Weiss gave her one right back and the woman averted her eyes.
Weiss only let Ruby go once they were back in her apartment. She quickly changed out of her wet clothes and into powder blue silk pajamas with thin white stripes. Then, she stumbled into the living room and dropped onto one of her couches with a long sigh. She was back in her own apartment, not out at the mercy of the elements. Life was as it should be.
Weiss could relax.
"I'm gonna make hot chocolate!" Ruby called from the kitchen and Weiss immediately bolted upright.
"No you are not!" She yelled back, racing into the kitchen. She had never seen Ruby cook, but she could make some guesses, and that was not something she wanted to subject anyone's house to, except maybe Yang's. Thoughts of her kitchen in flames were a powerful motivator, and she got there in record time.
Ruby was in the kitchen, wearing pajama bottoms with puppy dogs on them and a red cotton hoodie. She rolled her eyes at Weiss. "Calm down, I know what I'm doing."
Weiss didn't reply, but didn't show any signs of budging either. She crossed her arms and stood in the doorway, staring at the other girl. "I'm going to watch." She said after a moment.
Ruby threw up her hands. "Fine! Be paranoid!" She started throwing open kitchen doors, hunting for ingredients. Weiss used the opportunity to pull up a chair, and continued watching, half curious now.
"Let's see... cocoa powder... oh, it's the fancy kind! And here's almond extract... peppermint oil... cinnamon... milk and sugar."
"What are you doing?" Weiss asked from her chair. "I didn't realize cinnamon and peppermint oil were hot chocolate ingredients."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm following Eleanor's recipe. She showed me how to make this last year..."
Weiss nodded, satisfied. Ruby wasn't making it up as she went, which meant there might actually be a chance she knew what she was doing.
A very, very small chance.
Ten minutes later, Weiss had to admit that the hot chocolate was delicious. It was just sweet enough, with a minty taste that had nutty, cinnamon notes to it. Perfect for the Christmas season... and maybe good enough that it should be made other times too.
"It's good." Was all she said, but Ruby lit up, both hands clutching her own mug.
"Told you so!" She said, taking a sip of her own. "I mean really, I've been alone in the house enough times to teach myself how to cook."
Weiss hummed, taking a long drink out of her mug. Soon, it was empty, and she set it by the sink next to Ruby's, who of course had finished hers early.
"Hey Weiss." Ruby said slyly, leaning on the countertop. "There's some cocoa on your lip."
Weiss flushed with embarrassment, and tried to wipe it off, but Ruby moved faster, catching her hand and leaning in close, so close...
"No, let me." She breathed.
The kiss started soft, slow, just on the lips, but soon Weiss's hands were clutching at Ruby's shoulders and it became deeper, hungrier, with a chocolatey sweetness still clinging to their tongues.
It could only be called breaking apart because their lips separated, but their bodies were still pressed flush against eachother, Weiss's back jammed painfully on the hard countertop. Ruby was grinning, and Weiss was taking deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart which was incredibly, incredibly difficult with Ruby pressed so close.
"You taste good." Ruby whispered, then giggled quietly.
Weiss felt her face heat up. "And you are a pervert!" She said, embarrassed by the high note her voice hit.
Ruby pretended to be hurt. "No I'm not!" She wailed, exaggeratedly. "Why are you always so mean to me?"
"Oh knock it off." Weiss sighed, but a faint smile turned up the corners of her mouth.
Ruby sniffled, then looked hopefully at Weiss. "Kiss it better?"
"No." Weiss said, moving away and laid down on the couch. "I'm tired after going outside, and I want to rest with a nice book and no distractions." With that, she pulled a pillow under her head and picked up the novel she had been reading.
Ruby lay down next to her and flicked on the TV. "Fine, I'll amuse myself."
Weiss soon realized that Ruby and her wandering hands had absolutely no intention of doing any such thing.
"Ruby!" She shrieked as one such hand slipped up her pajamas. Ruby turned to hover above her, giggling.
"Yes?" She asked innocently, then snatched the book from Weiss, setting it on the table..
"...I'm trying to read." Weiss grumbled, but there wasn't any force behind it, because Ruby was cheating.
Blatantly.
...Weiss wondered what had possessed her to tell Ruby that her sides were sensitive.
"Ruby cut it out..." She said again, voice lower, softer.
"Shh." Ruby whispered, face ghosting close to Weiss's. "Shhhhh..." She whispered again, craning her head around to Weiss's ear. The sensation was new, unfamiliar, but somehow amazing and Weiss wanted more and she leaned in and Ruby pressed a soft kiss to it and oh god...
Weiss made a soft noise and stopped protesting, and Ruby's hands slipped further up, tickling at her ribcage. Soft kisses started, accelerating to a fever pace as Ruby's hands roamed faster, but still feather light. Weiss, not knowing what to do with her own hands, was kneading at the cotton fabric covering Ruby's back, clutching at it hard.
Struck by a sudden inspiration, Weiss moved away from the kiss, then forward for Ruby's neck. She kissed along it gently with her tongue until she found a spot just to the left of her throat that made Ruby hum a little. Feeling bold, she moved closer, taking the little bit of skin in her teeth and biting gently.
Ruby outright moaned, "God Weiss...," and Weiss suckled harder, almost so much that she was afraid she might hurt the other girl, but Ruby's suddenly jerky hands and very vocal praise convinced her otherwise.
Finally Ruby pulled back, a dark red spot on her neck, and sat up, legs on either side of Weiss's hips. She didn't say anything, but one hand made its way to the zipper on her hoodie, eyes questioning.
Weiss swallowed. "Do you... I mean..." This was one of the few times in her life that she had felt flustered, unsure. She didn't know what to say.
"Mhmm." Ruby said. "I do. I trust you Weiss, and we don't need to go any further than you want to."
Her racing heart had finally calmed, replaced by a sense of wonder and intimacy she had never felt. This girl, this wonderful, beautiful girl, trusted her. Slowly, Weiss reached up a hand, clasped it over Ruby's, and pulled down the zipper. With a quick movement of her shoulders, Ruby shucked the hoodie onto the floor.
Underneath she was wearing a sports bra, and nothing else. Her eyes still stayed questioning, and Weiss shook her head slightly. "No, no further." She said, and then before she could change her mind Weiss started tugging at the buttons on her pajama top. Her hands were a little shaky, and it took her too long to get it undone. Once they were, she hesitantly parted it slightly, just enough to let her chest show.
When she was done Ruby leaned back in and bare skin pressed on bare skin. Neither of them moved, just breathing and staring, the little fabric still on their chests the only thing between them. Ruby's hands rested on the sides of Weiss's stomach, Weiss's on Ruby's shoulders. Neither felt any need to resume what they had been doing, content to simply lie on the couch and just breathe.
It was perfect.
In fact, Weiss felt so completely at ease that she felt her eyes droop. With a little contented sigh, she snuggled in closer, hands tracing little circles on Ruby's back.
"This is nice." Ruby mumbled.
"Mmm." Weiss hummed in reply. "Don't ruin it."
"Okay." Ruby replied back, voice barely a whisper. Her hands tugged gently through Weiss's snowy white hair, coming to rest somewhere around her collarbone.
"Hey Weiss?" Ruby mumbled after a bit. "I'm all worn out... I think I'm gonna fall asleep..."
But Weiss had already drifted off.
Ruby gave her a fond, sleepy little smile, and soon, she too was dreaming.
So first off, to respond to some reviews that annoyed me!
I apologize in advance for being pissy because I'm not in a good mood right now for a lot of reasons.
Dear thebaldree, who reviewed today, about five hours ago.
I do not owe you a story. If I want to abandon stuff, it's my choice, so please stop grouching at me over dropping Gardener. That was a long time ago, I didn't like writing it, and if I want to drop it well that's my choice! Gah. I'm sorry, but this kind of reaction from people is pretty annoying, and I'm sorry for snapping, but it needs to be said.
Dear Guest, who reviewed on June 26th.
No, this was not about being in a homosexual relationship per se, it was about LGBT(QIA, how many letters can we add!) stuff in general. It was a bit of a public service announcement, but I would disagree that it didn't add anything. Seeing how people react in a crisis was interesting, and Weiss shooting down the police officer was a ton of fun to write. So, I'm gonna stick my tongue out at you like a five year old. Also, I think that in that context, yes, this was a black and white issue. There is never, ever an excuse for domestic abuse. There is never, ever an excuse for police to neglect their jobs. I don't think anyone should or could argue this.
Also, if people are allowed to have "legitimate homophobia" am I allowed to be legitimately heterophobic? Claiming that you're scared of gay people or transgender people isn't an excuse for anything, and honestly, people like Eleanor in the last chapter have much more of a reason to be afraid of you than you do of her. The murder rate for trangender people, especially those who aren't Caucasian, is amazingly high, and it's absolutely terrifying. So, you know, I'll avoid quoting anyone, but being "homophobic" isn't an excuse ever. It's just not, I'm sorry.
Now that that's out of the way, sorry for being gone so long guys! I had a writing camp, which was fun, and I discovered that I like spoken word poetry (it's a ton of fun) and met some wonderful people. However... my girlfriend of quite a long time moved. Forever. To the other side of the country. So I'm not doing all that well in some ways and I may have totally messed up my friendship with someone so I'm a little stressed.
*sigh*
I hope the chapter is good though.