Weiss Schnee
Ruby kept true to her promise. Sure we still both made sure to spend at least part of our time with the others. She let Inu and Azu bury her in the sand and I'd relax, sharing a drink with Winter and Blake. Non-alcoholic for Blake and I of course. That aside though, for the majority of our time, we spent it together.
She taught me how to swim which took longer than I'd like to admit and we were partners in a game of chicken with Yang and Blake…they won of course. We even sometimes just walked together on the beach and talked. I'm happy to say that it seems things are good between us now, there is still a level of uncertainty there but we are mostly back to the way we were before. I can't even begin to express my relief at that fact.
However…all good things must come to an end and today is the last day of our trip so we decided to go down to the beach tonight and have a bonfire. I say we but Winter ended up deciding to head back to the house not too long after we got the fire lit. She said it was because she was tired but I think she just wanted to let us be on our own for one night. Especially because she volunteered to keep an eye on Azu.
Azu protested at first but Alan promised to play Amity Arena with him later if he just went back with Winter.
"Hey guys, I have a great idea!" Yang pops up out of nowhere holding a bunch of chopsticks.
"I have a pretty good idea what those are for." Nora says with a cheeky grin on her face.
"That's right, I say for our last night here we play…the King Game!"
"Oh lord." Blake face palms.
"Knowing a few of you, this has the potential to be a disaster." I roll my eyes. "I think I'll pass."
"You're no fun princess." Alan remarks.
"What did I say about-" I start chastising Alan for calling me princess again but then Ruby grabs hold of my hand.
"Oh come on Weiss, it'll be fun." she says with an innocent twinkle in her eye.
"O-Okay fine, I guess I'm in."
"That's more like it, you already know Ren and I are in." Nora volunteers Ren without asking and he just decides to not argue.
"I guess it could be fun." Jaune says.
"No arguments here." Pyrrha scoots a little closer to Jaune. I bet I can guess what she's hoping for.
"If I don't play I'll never hear the end of it so I guess I have no choice." Blake says and Yang wraps her arm around her.
"Good choice kitten!" Yang holds out each stick. "Everyone grab one."
Doing as she says we each grab a random stick from her hand. Making sure not to accidentally reveal which one we grabbed.
"Who's the king?" We all ask in unison and on cue Yang holds up her stick, revealing the little crown crudely drawn on the end of it.
"Looks like I get to have fun first!" she says with a cheeky grin on her face. Oh lord. "So what is it gonna be…"
"Nothing dangerous Yang." Blake makes sure to clarify. Probably the right call…
"Well that is considerably less fun.." Yang pouts briefly before her grin returns. "Oh well, I can always go embarrassing!"
Oh lord.
"Okay for starters, numberrrrr 3 needs to lay their head on the lap of number..6 until the end of the game or until they receive new orders!"
"Alright, who is it?" Jaune asks.
"I'm 3." Alan raises his hand dejectedly. "I apologize in advance to whoever 6 is."
"Speaking of, who is it?" Ruby asks when slowly, a very embarrassed looking Inu raises her hand. I swear you could see steam coming off of her head.
With only slight hesitation Alan lays his head down on Inu's lap, who I could swear made an audible yelp as soon as his head made contact. He looks more annoyed than embarrassed…poor girl.
"Round two!" We all return our sticks and Yang shuffles them up before holding them out again. We all grab our sticks and call out.
"Who's the king?"
"I'm the king!" Nora shouts, jumping out of her seat and revealing her crown stick.
"Same rule Nora." Ren clarifies. Thank you Ren.
"Alright theeennn…I order number 8 to kiss number 7 on the forehead!" she points toward the sky.
"Oh come on Nora!" Jaune protests, holding up a stick with the number 7 on it.
"Alrighty so who's gonna be the lucky number 8 that gets to smooch ol Jauney Boy on the forehead?" Nora's eyes scan over us until they land on Pyrrha. Who happens to be holding up a stick with the number 8 on it and smiling nervously.
"P-P-Pyrrha!?" Jaune nearly has a panic attack, his face turning red as a tomato.
"I-Its okay Jaune, it's just a silly game remember?" Pyrrha leaps out of her seat, pretty eagerly if you ask me but I guess that's no surprise. They obviously like each other, well obviously to everyone but them I guess.
She lightly kisses him on the forehead and while she is definitely blushing, Jaune is suddenly looking like he might just pass out.
The game continued like that for a while, with various kings handing out various orders. None quite as embarrassing as the first two. Jaune ended up ordering Ruby to mimic some silly dance from a mecha anime they really like.
Honestly without dangerous orders coming into play I think Yang and Nora's creativity was pretty stifled. Not that I am complaining in the slightest. Somehow I hadn't been ordered to do anything embarrassing yet and for a moment I actually thought I was really going to get off easy tonight.
Then…on what we agreed would be the last round of the night, because it was getting kind of late, the worst happened.
"Well well, look at that, turns out I am the king!" Alan says with a sinister smirk. Only slightly undercut by the fact that his head is still in Inu's lap.
"Oh dear…" I reel at the possibilities. Keep calm Weiss, even if he wanted to mess with you or Ruby, he'd have to guess your numbers right?
"What are your orders, your highness?" Yang does an over the top bow.
"Number two" he says, almost making me give an audible gulp. Dammit…it's almost like he somehow knew my number! "You and number 5…have to kiss, on the lips!"
"Wh-What kind of order is that!" I stand up and stamp my foot.
"I assume you are number 2?" he asks with a smug chuckle.
"So who is number 5?" Inu asks.
"Um…" Ruby, blushing and nervously glancing off to the side, holds up the number 5.
"Oh how scandalous!" Nora shouts, leaning against Ren's back and resting her head on his shoulder.
"N-Nora, you're not-helping!" I shout before a soft whisper from Ruby gets my attention.
"W-Weiss…" she is standing in front of me, looking every bit as nervous and embarrassed as I am.
"Ruby we don't have to if you don't want to, it's just a stupid game." I whisper to her.
"N-No it's fine, like you said it's just a game after all..no big deal right?" she summons her courage, the most adorable expression ever on her face. Which isn't exactly helping right now if I can be honest.
"R-Right..just a game."
Ruby closes her eyes and puckers her lips. It would look a bit silly if it wasn't so cute…I close my eyes and start to lean in slowly. An audible and obviously exaggerated gasp from the group nearly makes me back out at the last second but instead I decide it's too late to stop now.
Finally, after what felt like an agonizing amount of time, I feel Ruby's lips press against mine. It causes an instant sensation in my chest, a lot like the night I kissed her on the cheek but far more intense. Followed by a feeling of near weightlessness, almost like I was floating.
Part of me is telling me to pull away and that it's gone on long enough but…the rest of me just isn't listening. Not wanting it to end.
"Um, guys..you can stop now." Yang chuckles out. Ruby and I pull apart almost instantly quickly looking away from each other.
I only intended it to last a second but for some reason I just didn't want to pull away. We both sat back down, pretty embarrassed and trying desperately not to show it. The teasing looks on a few of their faces not exactly helping. Yang is the worst but Blake sensing our embarrassment lightly smacks her on the back.
"A-Alright, I'd say that's probably enough for tonight, let's finish eating and head back okay?" Pyrrha changes the subject, bless her for that. "We have an early flight tomorrow after all!"
We quickly put out the fire and gather up any trash and belongings before heading back up to the house.
Everyone was laughing and goofing around the whole way back but Ruby and I were pretty silent the whole way. I'm worried at first that this will undo all the progress we made since coming out here but then Ruby gently nudges me.
"That was pretty crazy huh?" she says with a smile that is slightly betrayed by the pink on her cheeks.
"Y-Yeah Alan is just a jerk." We both let out a small laugh.
"Hey..you don't have to worry. It doesn't have to be a big deal."
"That's..good to hear honestly. We finally got back to mostly normal. I'd hate to totally ruin it again."
"We're good Weiss."
"Thanks Ruby." I smile and look down at my feet in the sand.
"Thank you too."
"For what?" I look back up at her and raise an eyebrow.
"For bringing us all out here. Not only did it really help fix things between us but..it was also just an experience that I don't think any of us will ever forget." she turns and smiles. A smile so bright I'm sure the sun would be jealous. "I know I won't"
"I'm..I'm just happy that you all enjoyed yourselves. It's the least I could do for my first real friends after all."
Thank goodness my worries were unfounded. I'm so relieved.
Once we make it back to the house everyone makes sure to pack up as much as possible so we can get out of here pretty quickly in the morning. Afterward we all head to bed to get as much sleep as possible. It's like Pyrrha said we have a pretty early flight.
For some reason though I couldn't bring myself to sleep at all. I just kept tossing and turning and any time I got close to actually being able to get some sleep Ruby would flash through my head. It certainly didn't help that she was sleeping only a couple of feet away from me.
I decided to get some fresh air to try and clear my head. Just tossing and turning isn't helping at all and it's driving me crazy.
I walk out on the deck and lean against the railing. The full moon is completely lighting up the night sky, joined by a sea of stars. It's actually quite beautiful. It's not as easy to see the stars like this back home.
It serves as a distraction…for only a moment. My thoughts immediately flash back to that kiss. Why didn't I want to pull away, it was just a silly game…so why did it make me feel that way. It's not like it's the first time Ruby has given me weird feelings in my chest but nothing as strong as that.
I didn't even know it was possible for someone to make me feel that way.
I press my heart to my chest and realize that it's pounding again. "Stop pounding like that…stupid heart, Ruby is my best friend. Sure she is very important to me and she makes me happier than I thought I ever could be…"
For some reason I can't help but pause for just a moment as a thought enters my mind but I do my best to shake it off. "I-It's not like I love her or anything!...right?"