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The ocean sparkled like a jewel under the relentless sun, each wave casting fragments of light that danced across the sand. It was, by all technical measures, a picturesque day... sunny, warm, and accompanied by a gentle sea breeze that tugged playfully at Weiss Schnee’s oversized sunhat.
She hated it.
Well... no, that wasn’t entirely accurate. She hated the concept of it. The sand, the humidity, the vague scent of sunscreen clinging to everything. The fact that she had been talked into this so-called vacation against her better judgment. And most of all, the way her pulse quickened every time Ruby Rose so much as laughed too loudly in her direction.
Weiss sat stiffly under a large parasol, a beach towel folded with surgical precision beneath her. A book rested in her lap, its pages untouched for at least twenty minutes. Blake, on the other hand, was the very picture of nonchalance beside her... lounging like royalty in the shade, one hand curled around her third novel of the trip.
It was all so... chaotic. Ruby and Yang had thrown themselves into the experience like golden retrievers discovering an entirely new kind of backyard. The pair were currently racing along the shoreline, shouting incomprehensible things about wave physics and sandcastle load-bearing structures. Weiss had no idea what the rules were, but judging by Yang’s triumphant cheer and Ruby’s theatrical flop into the tide, someone had just lost a round.
“I’m fine right here,” Weiss muttered under her breath, adjusting her hat and pretending she hadn’t been watching them.
“Uh huh,” Blake said, not looking up from her book. “You’re not exactly subtle, you know.”
“I beg your pardon?” Weiss snapped, bristling as she turned to face her teammate.
Blake finally glanced up, amber eyes unreadable, a flicker of dry amusement ghosting across her face like a cat considering whether to knock something off a shelf. “I said, you’re not exactly subtle. You’ve been on the same page since Ruby did that cartwheel five minutes ago.”
“I have not ,” Weiss huffed, flipping a page with great purpose. “Unlike some people, I actually came here with the intention of relaxing.”
Blake didn’t even blink. “Mm. I’m relaxed.”
“You’ve been... observing,” Weiss said, trying for nonchalance but failing to keep the edge of defensiveness out of her voice. “Specifically every time Yang bends over to pick up another seashell.”
A beat passed. Blake blinked slowly.
“So?”
Weiss made a strangled noise of indignation, trying not to imagine the smirk tugging at Blake’s lips behind the book.
She flicked her gaze toward Ruby... just a second, a heartbeat... and then away, as if the glance hadn’t happened at all. “Honestly, this entire exercise is ridiculous,” she continued, grasping for higher moral ground. “We could have spent this week reviewing mission reports or coordinating new team drills. Instead, we’re voluntarily subjecting ourselves to UV radiation and soggy swimwear.”
“Sounds like someone’s not having fun,” Blake said absently.
“I am having fun,” Weiss snapped.
“Sure.”
“I am! ”
Blake held up the book like a shield. “Tell it to your pulse rate.”
Weiss was halfway through formulating a blistering retort when a familiar voice cut through the breeze.
"Weiss! Come play with us!"
Ruby’s voice rang out, bright and enthusiastic, carried perfectly by the wind. Weiss’s heart leapt like it had been launched from a trebuchet. She turned her head just in time to see Ruby waving at her, ankle-deep in the surf, swimsuit clinging to her frame with an innocent kind of cruelty that Weiss was absolutely not thinking about.
She stared for a second too long. Then, with great dignity, she turned her head back toward her book.
“I didn’t hear anything,” she muttered.
“Uh-huh,” Blake said again, but this time there was a knowing lilt to it.
Weiss adjusted her hat, spine straight as a board, and forced her eyes back to the page. The words swam.
The ocean roared softly in the distance.
She hadn’t turned the page again.
The next time Weiss glanced up, she told herself it was only because Blake had shifted in her seat. Not because Ruby had started laughing again. Not because the sound of her voice hit like sunlight through stained glass, bright and reverent and impossible to ignore.
No, it was definitely Blake’s fault.
“You’re staring again,” Blake murmured, eyes still on the page.
“I’m not,” Weiss said, far too quickly, her voice catching on the last syllable. Her cheeks prickled with heat as she immediately regretted the speed of her denial.
Blake flipped a page with the serene smugness of someone who had already won the argument. "You keep sighing like a tragic heroine. It’s distracting."
Weiss bristled. "I do not sigh."
Blake didn’t look up. "You just did. Twice."
Weiss opened her mouth to retort, only to realize she had sighed. A lot. She huffed instead, as if that were somehow less incriminating.
"If you’re bored, we could always join them," Blake added innocently.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. "I’m reading. "
"Mhm. Same sentence for ten minutes now. Impressive focus."
Weiss glanced down at the text and, to her horror, recognized the same sentence she’d reread at least six times. She slapped the book shut with a sharp thwack. “I’m getting a new one.”
“You didn’t bring another one,” Blake pointed out.
Weiss stood, grabbing a book anyway like it might defend her honor. “Then I’ll borrow one of yours.”
Blake tilted her head slightly. “You don’t like my books.”
“I’ll manage,” Weiss said, turning on her heel.
She made it three steps before Ruby laughed again... something high-pitched and delighted, like she’d just won another inexplicable sandcastle victory. Weiss froze.
She didn’t turn around. Not fully. Just enough to catch Ruby out of the corner of her eye, standing with her hands on her hips, face turned to the sun, windswept and beaming like the scene had been staged specifically to target Weiss’s sanity.
And then Ruby looked over.
Their eyes met for one impossible heartbeat.
Ruby winked.
Weiss’s entire nervous system short-circuited.
She made a noise. Not a word... just a strangled, flustered sound that escaped of its own volition. Then she spun on her heel and stormed back to her towel, muttering about cursed beaches and utterly infuriating teammates.
Weiss collapsed onto her towel with as much dignity as one could manage while flopping face-down in defeat. She adjusted her hat. She rearranged her legs. She very deliberately did not look in Ruby’s direction.
Weiss huffed and reached for the book she’d dramatically borrowed from Blake just minutes ago, determined to prove a point.
She opened it.
Then immediately shut it again, a startled inhale catching in her throat as she flicked a horrified glance in Blake’s direction.
Her face went scarlet.
The cover had been tasteful. Deceptively so. But the content... gods above, the content... was not .
Blake raised an eyebrow over the top of her own book. "Getting into the good part?"
"You planted this," Weiss hissed.
"I really didn’t. But now I wish I had."
Weiss made a strangled noise and set the book aside like it had burned her. She picked up her original novel... still open to the same paragraph... and forced her gaze to the page with grim resolve.
It didn’t matter if she read a single word.
She was reading , thank you very much... a noble act of composure and dignity in the face of an utterly uncivilized vacation.
The noble act of reading was not going well.
Weiss had managed a full paragraph this time... progress, surely... but the words still refused to stick. Her gaze kept slipping, betraying her every few lines as it drifted back toward the water, where Ruby was now doing handstands in the shallows.
Handstands. In water. While laughing.
It was almost offensively endearing.
Weiss grit her teeth and yanked her gaze back to the book. It was fine. She was fine. Her cheeks were definitely not hot again. That was just the sun. And also maybe a little blood pressure.
"Weiiissss~"
The singsong voice arrived a moment before the body did. A shadow fell over Weiss’s towel. She looked up... too slowly... and was met with a grinning Ruby Rose, damp, radiant, and plopping down far too close for anyone’s personal space protocols.
"You're going to burn like that," Ruby said cheerfully, eyeing Weiss’s back. "Did you reapply sunscreen?"
"I’m under an umbrella," Weiss replied, perfectly reasonable and completely unconvincing.
Ruby made a thoughtful hum, then tilted her head. "Still. UV rays bounce. Something about sand and reflection. Science stuff. Want some help with that?"
Weiss blinked. "With... what?"
Ruby beamed and held up the bottle of sunscreen like it was a prize she’d won. "Your back."
Weiss's brain blanked.
"Absolutely not," Weiss said, prim and resolute. But then Ruby tilted her head just so, silver eyes wide and earnest beneath damp lashes, and something in Weiss’s resolve cracked. She looked away too late. "...But if you're going to be ridiculous about it," she muttered, flustered, "I’d rather it be done properly."
Ruby didn’t wait for further permission.
Weiss opened her mouth to object... to say something, anything... but her brain offered nothing but static and the realization that Ruby’s thigh was brushing her hip. She froze. By the time she recovered, Ruby was already moving. In one smooth motion, she straddled the edges of Weiss’s towel and perched behind her, warm hands already uncapping the bottle.
Weiss lay stiffly on her stomach, regretting every decision she had made since waking up.
The first touch was gentle... cool lotion smoothed across her shoulders, Ruby’s fingers drawing long, careful lines across her back. Weiss bit the inside of her cheek. It was fine. This was fine. Ruby was just being helpful. Friendly.
But then Ruby’s thumbs circled just below her shoulder blades. And the pads of her fingers pressed in a little more firmly, tracing along the curve of her spine with what Weiss could only describe as suspicious therapeutic intent.
Then Ruby’s hands slid lower, just above the small of Weiss’s back... dangerously close to somewhere that made Weiss’s brain fire off a dozen warning bells. But it was fine. It was strategic, probably. Efficient application technique. Nothing more. Her thumbs pressed in with slow, deliberate care, thumbs sweeping in a lazy circle that made Weiss’s toes curl into the air.
Weiss made a sound. A very un-Weisslike sound. Somewhere between a squeak and a whimper, it escaped before she could stop it... and immediately her brain erupted in horrified analysis. What was that? Had Ruby heard? Of course she had. Could Weiss pretend it was a cough? Maybe a seagull? No, no... too late, damage done.
Ruby paused. "You okay?"
"Perfectly fine," Weiss squeaked, horrified by herself.
"Cool. Just making sure I got it all," Ruby said... and then proceeded to dispense a comically excessive amount of sunscreen into her palm. Enough to coat a small army. Or maybe a medium-sized elephant with sun anxiety.
"That’s not necessary!" Weiss snapped, her voice breaking somewhere between scandalized and flustered.
Ruby grinned... entirely unrepentant... and let her fingers dance across Weiss’s back like she was painting a masterpiece, every motion deliberate and infuriating... chasing every imagined sunbeam with exaggerated care.
Weiss made a small, startled sound she would later deny.
"Oops," Ruby said brightly. "Guess you’ll have to rinse off now!"
And with that, she was up and gone, sprinting toward the waves with a laugh that rang far too smug for someone claiming innocence.
Weiss lay frozen for a beat, face buried in her arms.
"I hate her," she mumbled.
"You don’t," Blake replied without looking up.
Weiss groaned, pushed herself up with a sharp breath, and squared her shoulders like she was preparing for battle... dignity restored, mission clear, vengeance imminent.
Sun safety may have been compromised, but her pride would not be. She had a gremlin to punish.
Weiss descended the beach like a woman with a vendetta.
Her towel lay discarded behind her, sunhat abandoned, hair whipping in the wind like a battle standard. Each step was deliberate, bare feet biting into the sand as if it had personally offended her. The ocean glittered ahead, mockingly serene, and in the shallows just beyond the break, a swimsuit-clad menace laughed as though she hadn’t just upended Weiss Schnee’s entire emotional equilibrium.
Blake didn’t look up from her book. "Princess Vengeance descends upon her prey."
Yang, who had just plopped down beside her with a fresh smoothie, choked. "Wait, what ?"
"Don’t worry," Blake said, calmly flipping a page. "Retribution is coming."
Out in the surf, Ruby spotted her a few paces too late.
She blinked. Grinned. Waved.
Weiss did not wave back.
Ruby’s smile faltered. "Weiss? You okay? You look... uh... focused?"
Weiss stepped into the waves without breaking stride.
Ruby laughed nervously, eyes wide with mock innocence. "Okay, okay, if this is about the sunscreen, I might have gotten a little carried away... but in my defense, you didn’t say stop."
Weiss raised one hand.
Ruby blinked. "Wait, what are you"
Splash.
A perfectly-aimed arc of water caught Ruby full in the chest.
She gasped. "Hey!"
Weiss lifted her chin. "Oops. Guess you’ll have to rinse off now."
Ruby’s jaw dropped. Then narrowed into a grin. "Oh, it’s on ."
What followed could only be described as aquatic anarchy.
Ruby lunged, flinging water with both hands. Weiss shrieked and retaliated in kind. They abandoned all strategy... chaos ruled, water flying in wild arcs as the sacred rite of splash warfare commenced.
Weiss got in a direct hit to Ruby’s face. Ruby retaliated by kicking water at her in return. They circled like predators in too-deep puddles, laughing, ducking, throwing waves like ammunition.
At one point, Ruby darted around and tugged at Weiss’s arm, spinning her directly into a curtain of water.
"You little" Weiss sputtered.
"You said I needed to rinse off!" Ruby beamed.
Weiss lunged after her. Ruby shrieked and darted away, her laughter high and wild as she splashed through the surf... but Weiss was close behind, water spraying around them in glittering arcs.
Weiss’s foot slid out from under her.
The shift was sudden... a dip in the sand hidden beneath the water’s surface. One second, she was lunging forward with righteous, salt-stung vengeance; the next, gravity betrayed her.
A startled gasp escaped her lips as she stumbled.
Then hands... firm and sure... caught her by the waist.
Ruby.
For one breathless moment, the world stilled.
The surf crashed softly around them, white foam curling at their knees. Weiss found herself upright, hands instinctively gripping Ruby’s shoulders... and then realized she had no memory of choosing to do so. Her brain lagged behind her body, still catching up to the fact that Ruby’s hands were on her waist and they were standing this close. Her heart thudded once, hard, like a warning bell wrapped in velvet. Ruby’s hands remained at her waist, steadying her, holding her just a little longer than necessary.
They were close. Closer than they’d ever been outside the context of battle or patching up wounds. Weiss could feel the warmth of Ruby’s skin, the rise and fall of her breath, the salt in the air mingling with the scent of sunscreen and sea breeze.
And Ruby... Ruby was looking at her.
Not the usual wide-eyed admiration. Not the affectionate awe Weiss was used to brushing off with exasperation and secretly storing away in the corners of her heart.
This was quieter. Weightier.
Ruby’s eyes weren’t just looking at her. They were studying her... like Weiss was something worth deciphering, not just admired but understood.
And for once, Weiss didn’t look away.
Their hands remained where they were... Ruby’s fingers soft at her waist, Weiss’s grip light but unyielding at her shoulders. She could feel her pulse roaring in her ears, could see the way Ruby’s gaze flickered from her eyes to her lips and back again.
Weiss’s breath caught.
The silence stretched.
Then, like the first warm wave rolling over sunburned skin...
She leaned in.
Or maybe Ruby did. It didn’t matter.
Their lips met like the inevitable conclusion of something long overdue.
There was no dramatic dip, no orchestral swell... just warmth, and sunlight, and the ocean humming against their knees. Ruby’s mouth was soft, tentative. Weiss melted into it before her thoughts could catch up... before logic or doubt could pry her away.
She tilted her head, slightly. Ruby’s fingers flexed at her waist.
The kiss deepened... just a little.
It was, Weiss thought faintly, exactly what she hadn’t let herself want. And everything she needed.
Then...
“WOO! FINALLY!”
Her brain screamed no no no no even as her heart tried to pretend it hadn’t just exploded. For one wild second, she considered diving into the ocean and letting the tide carry her out to sea.
Yang.
Ruby blinked, eyes wide, a smile tugging at her lips.
Blake’s voice followed, dry as ever. “Took them long enough.”
Weiss’s face went up in flames. A hundred thoughts tried to rush forward at once... What did that look like? Did they see? Did Ruby notice how long I... She pulled back fully, flustered, eyes darting anywhere but Ruby’s face. "That wasn’t... I didn’t"
Ruby only grinned, eyes shining.
She gave Weiss’s waist the lightest squeeze... reassuring, grounding... and leaned in again with a soft, delighted laugh under her breath.
This time, Weiss didn’t stop her.
The kiss was slower this time... less the spark of surprise, more the steady press of everything left unsaid finally given voice.
Ruby’s hands slid up her back. Weiss’s arms wound around Ruby’s neck, and she let her forehead rest softly against the curve of Ruby’s cheek... just for a moment, just long enough to steady herself.
No thoughts. No hesitations.
Just this.
Just her.
Weiss exhaled, slowly. Her forehead lingered against Ruby’s cheek a second longer, her pulse finally beginning to calm... though the ocean inside her chest still hadn’t settled. It might never.
When she finally leaned back, Ruby didn’t let her go. Not immediately.
Their eyes met again, the distance between them laughably small, but no longer charged with uncertainty. There was only the quiet glow of affection, of something new and thrilling and terrifyingly real.
Weiss opened her mouth to say something... anything... but what, exactly, could she possibly say that wouldn’t ruin this?
“That... that wasn’t what I" she began, only to falter. Her voice... usually sharp, precise... sounded like it had taken a sunstroke and decided to improvise.
Ruby, still holding her gently, just smiled.
“You’re impossible,” Weiss muttered instead, flushing pink.
“Mmhm,” Ruby said, clearly delighted, and leaned forward to steal another kiss before Weiss could rally.
It was soft and smug and far too effective.
Weiss melted again... only a little this time... but enough that when Ruby finally pulled back, she was grinning like she’d won something.
Which, Weiss supposed, she had. Not in any way she’d planned, of course... but in the most Weiss-defying, Ruby-infuriating way possible. And somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.
Then Ruby tilted her head with mock seriousness. “So…” she said, voice low and teasing. “Want me to reapply your sunscreen?”
Weiss blinked. Stared.
Ruby's grin widened.
Weiss sputtered, scandalized. “You"
“I mean, you did say sun safety was important,” Ruby said, utterly unrepentant. “And I might’ve missed a spot.”
Weiss narrowed her eyes. “You used half the bottle.”
“Exactly. What if I missed the important half?” Ruby waggled her eyebrows, which should not have been charming... but of course, were.
Weiss made a strangled noise, seized by a mix of indignation and mortified affection. Her resolve broke like a sandcastle in the tide... swept away before she even had a chance to defend it.
“Oh, you menace!”
She lunged forward and shoved Ruby backward into the water with a spectacular splash. Ruby resurfaced laughing, sputtering seawater and triumph in equal measure.
“Scoundrel!” Weiss shouted.
“I said I missed a spot!”
“You’re insufferable!”
“You kissed me first!”
Weiss opened her mouth for a scathing retort... paused... and snapped, “Purely a tactical decision!” Her face betrayed her the moment it flushed.
Ruby beamed, teeth flashing in the sun. “Still counts!”
Weiss threw a handful of seawater at her. Ruby splashed back. The war resumed.
Their laughter echoed across the beach, buoyed by the tide and the sky and the warm, brilliant joy that felt too big to name. On the shore, Blake and Yang were still cheering... though Weiss pretended not to hear them.
The sun was high now, casting the sea in honeyed light.
And for the first time all day, Weiss didn’t mind the heat. Dignity might be in tatters, and sun safety certainly compromised... but she was warm, and not just from the sun.
A/N:
I would just like to formally state that Ruby Rose is a menace and should not be trusted with sunscreen, personal boundaries, or knowing she’s cute.
Weiss never stood a chance.
Wild Hearts had a really fun splash scene and I kept thinking about how I wanted to write more of that… so here we are!