Work Text:
Weiss Schnee nearly collapsed through the front door as she finally arrived home from the last day of what must have been the longest, and coldest, week of work in her life. Being the inherited CEO of her late grandfather's company had taken a major toll on her. It was only a week before Christmas, so production was at its highest, and it didn't help much that she had barely gotten a wink of sleep through the stress.
She hadn't even noticed that her head was pounding until she stopped moving for the first time in hours, kneeling down to untie her oversized boots. Next came the matching red gloves, scarf, and hat, and there was an audible sigh of relief when she finally peeled off her giant white winter coat. Weiss sank to the floor and took a breather, holding her hand to her head when she smelled something.
A cool, sweet, sugary scent had carelessly drifted it's way from the kitchen all throughout the house, reaching Weiss' nose at the foyer. Curious, she got to her feet and stretched out a bit. It was only a quick trip up the stairs before she reached the kitchen. She just couldn't help herself; a tiny laugh escaped her lips when she got there.
Standing at the counter with a determined stance was Weiss' girlfriend, Ruby, clad in a doughy apron with her red hair all tied up. Her sleeves were rolled to the point where you couldn't even tell it was supposed to be a sweatshirt, and she happily hummed along to Christmas music playing through her phone. She stirred with a fervid energy in a large bowl, grey eyes completely focused.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked. Her girlfriend almost lost her focus, almost, as she nearly dropped her wooden spoon but saved it, leaning her shoulder on the counter casually.
"H-hey Weiss!" Ruby grinned widely, trying desperately to hide the bowl behind herself. "Whatcha doin' home so early?"
Weiss glanced down at her watch. "This is the same time I always get--"
"OH!!" Ruby interrupted, giggling uncomfortably. "Duh! Right! Of course! 5:00!" With a dramatic flair, she smacked herself on the forehead. "I'm such a goof!"
Her girlfriend gave her a warm smile. "A cute goof," she added.
Ruby's cheeks turned a deep crimson, almost as dark as her hair. "Oh, stop…" she began rambling, "...shut your silly little face…" Weiss rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.
"You know--" Weiss looked over her girlfriend's shoulder, who only grew more desperate to hide what only became more obvious, "--I can smell whatever you're making." Her voice lowered to almost a whisper. "And it smells amazing!"
The redhead folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes, feigning toughness. "Hey! Don't you have comfy Christmas PJ's? That conveniently match the ones I'm wearing right now?" It was clear she was trying hard not to laugh; and Weiss couldn't say any differently for herself.
"Mayyyybeee," she stalled, tapping a finger to her chin in false thought when she was suddenly lifted from her feet and carried by an exuberant Ruby to their room. The two couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably on their way there, Weiss' face somehow even redder than Ruby's was before. When they got there, her pajama set was already waiting on the bed. With a fond sigh, she turned to watch her girlfriend practically skip back to the kitchen as she started changing.
As she finished, tying up her white hair in a ponytail, there was a loud beep from the oven, followed by a barrage of hurried footsteps. Weiss arrived in the kitchen to the sight of Ruby cradling a tray of half-burnt cookies, dejected. She only looked sadder when she looked up at Weiss.
"Sorry, Weiss," she said in a tone that almost broke the young woman's heart, "I know you've been working so, so hard this week and I wanted to surprise you--" She placed the tray on the counter and sighed, "--but I messed up the first batch… and I'll probably mess up the second one too."
Weiss' heart sank as her eyes watered and she rushed over to Ruby's side in an instant, pulling her into a hug. She nuzzled her face into her girlfriend's shoulder as she continued to talk.
"I'm sorry, I know you were looking forward to it and I thought I could try a new recipe, but I rushed… I just screwed it up…"
Weiss firmly said "No," as she pulled away, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. "Ruby, I'm a famous CEO, and this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." Her eyes wandered to the tray. "Burnt or not, you just genuinely wanted me to be happy, and I can't say the same of most other people I know."
"R-really?" Ruby was crying now, too.
"Really."
The grin that spread on Ruby's face could very well have out-brightened the sun. Weiss extended an arm to her shoulder and returned the smile.
"Hey," she said. "You only burned the first batch, right?"
Ruby was still wiping tears away. "Yeah?"
"Okay. Then…" Weiss nodded, marching over to grab her apron and a wooden spoon, slamming it down on the table with an air of confidence. She met Ruby's grey eyes with her blue ones. "Let's make this next batch… together!" She exaggerated the last word and clenched her fists dramatically.
Ruby gasped, understanding as she went to grab her spoon, too. "YEAHHH!!!" She reached her arm out to high-five Weiss, who just walked past her to continue stirring the dough she was working on. "Hey!" Her body drooped over. "Don't leave me hangin'!"
Her girlfriend smirked as their eyes met again. "I promise you the most… um… epic…?" She tilted her head in confusion. Ruby nodded. "Epic high-five the world has ever seen, when we successfully finish these cookies!" Her voice lowered back to normal. "Um… but what kind of cookies are we making?"
Ruby smiled and leaned in, wrapping an arm around Weiss' shoulder. "Peppermint cookies!" She nodded towards the tiny shards of red and white inside the dough. "They match you and me!"
Weiss snorted. "Oh my gosh, that's adorable."
"Is not!" The redhead turned away with her hands on her hips, but she couldn't help but join her girlfriend in laughter.
As Weiss finished the stirring, Ruby dumped the burnt cookies from the tray, blowing a raspberry at them in the trash. They began scooping dough from the bowl, placing it on the tray in tiny circles. Ruby's head was leaned on Weiss' shoulder, the perfect moment of distraction before she grabbed one of the balls of dough and stuffed it in her mouth.
Weiss gasped, and Ruby prepared for a lecture on not to eat cookie dough before she felt something hit her cheek; looking to see her girlfriend smugly standing with spoon in hand, just having launched something. "Oh, it's on!" Ruby grabbed some dough directly from the bowl and smudged it onto Weiss' nose, who followed that by rubbing some on Ruby's forehead. They continued flinging small bits of pepperminty dough at each other, until Ruby realized she was holding the entire bowl above Weiss' head, and decided to call a truce.
For the cookies' sake.
Once the cookies were in the oven, the two decided to stay in the kitchen and watch, to avoid burning another batch. Ruby grabbed her phone while Weiss guarded the oven like a hawk, even despite Ruby telling her not to worry.
She flipped to the romantic Christmas station, and slowly turned the volume up to max. The moment Weiss heard the first lyric, she instantly began singing along without even meaning to. Ruby joined right in, and just like that, it wasn't long before the two were singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and really, how could they resist? It was followed by "Last Christmas", which they dramatically began to act out until the oven gave a warning beep and Weiss nearly pounced to open it.
It was almost like Weiss had acted just in time. The cookies were baked to perfection, soft and gooey in the middle, warm with a little crunch on the outside. They were a honey color that almost glowed in the late evening night of the kitchen, and the chunks of peppermint glittered like freshly fallen snow.
Ruby's eyes sparkled with delight. "We did it…" She reached out her hand and Weiss followed, resulting in what was definitely an epic high-five. "We did it!"
"We sure did." Weiss proudly puffed out her chest as she looked at their creation. She turned to her girlfriend. "Cocoa?"
Ruby was already plating the cookies. "You read my mind!"
When they were both done, they met in the living room and snuggled under a huge, fleecy blanket with their cookies and cocoa, and each other. As they ate and talked over whatever movie was on TV, they both agreed that they had to make cookies together more often.
It wasn't long before Weiss' eyes grew heavy, as she leaned onto Ruby's shoulder. With her eyes now closed, she muttered a tiny, "I love you," before yawning and falling asleep.
It might have been cold outside, but Weiss could not have been warmer in that moment.