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The scent of strawberries and sugar lingered in the air like a warm memory.
Weiss flipped the last crepe onto the waiting plate with practiced grace, the pan moving with an elegant tilt of her wrist. A light dusting of powdered sugar followed… just enough to make the red of the strawberries pop… before she spooned on the mascarpone filling in careful folds. A mint sprig, perfectly placed. A quiet breath of satisfaction. Everything looked… right. Almost.
She carried the plates to the table, her silk nightgown brushing softly against her legs as she moved through the cozy kitchen. The windows were fogged with the contrast of indoor warmth and the snow-dusted chill outside. The glow from the small tree in the corner flickered gently, reflected in the ornaments that Ruby had arranged in absolutely no logical pattern. It was chaotic and a little tilted. It was perfect.
But Ruby was quiet.
Weiss glanced toward the stove. Ruby stood there, stirring a pot of cocoa with one hand resting on her hip, her posture slouched in a way Weiss had only seen on particularly hard days. Her black tank top hung slightly off one shoulder, pajama pants decorated with little red roses pooling softly over bare feet. Normally, Ruby hummed to herself. Sometimes she danced. This morning, she just… stirred.
Then Weiss saw the mugs. Cocoa… dark and rich… poured perfectly to the brim. But something was missing.
There were no marshmallows.
Ruby always added extra marshmallows.
Weiss blinked. It felt like peering through frost-hazed glass and noticing the faintest fracture beneath… barely visible, but enough to let in the cold.
Before she could say anything, Ruby turned, two mugs in hand and a crooked smile tugging at her lips.
“Weiss Schnee-Rose,” Ruby said with mock severity, “are you admiring my cocoa technique? Because if you are, please know it’s copyrighted.”
Weiss jolted slightly, caught staring. She blinked once, expression smoothing into practiced indifference. “Hardly. I was distracted.”
Ruby set the mugs down and flopped into her seat with theatrical flair. “Ah. Thinking about how incredibly lucky you are to wake up next to this festive delight every morning?”
There it was… the Ruby spark, still flickering even when dimmed.
Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes and reached for her cocoa instead, taking a quiet sip while letting her gaze rest on Ruby a moment longer.
Ruby’s smile lingered, but the light in her eyes didn’t quite reach the corners… not in the way it normally did. Weiss knew the difference. The delay in her quip, the way her gaze flickered too quickly away… small tells, but unmistakable. Ruby was performing joy, not living in it. There was a hollowness behind the sparkle this morning, a quiet ache beneath the surface.
That’s what finally made Weiss move.
She set her mug down and reached across the table, slipping her fingers gently over Ruby’s. The contact was warm. Soft. Grounding. Ruby’s breath hitched in surprise.
“You don’t have to explain,” Weiss said, voice softer than the clink of silver on porcelain. “But if something’s weighing on you… you don’t have to carry it in silence. Not with me.”
Ruby stared at her for a moment, eyes wide, lips parted. Then she looked down at their joined hands, her fingers curling gently around Weiss’s.
“It’s nothing huge,” she said, voice quieter now. More real. “I just… Christmas breakfast was kind of my mom’s thing. She always made these ridiculously elaborate spreads. And we’d eat way too much before presents and laugh and…”
Her voice trailed off, and she shrugged one shoulder. “I guess I thought I was fine, but it snuck up on me this morning.”
Weiss wanted to fix it… to offer something perfect, polished, comforting. A phrase, a gesture, anything that might close the distance between Ruby and that hollow ache. But nothing came. Every word she considered sounded too neat, too small for the moment.
So she squeezed her hand.
“…I understand.”
Silence settled, not heavy but gentle. Shared.
They ate quietly. Ruby’s appetite slowly returned, and the crepes vanished one by one. Every time Ruby made a pleased little noise after a bite, Weiss’s heart ached and eased all at once. It wasn’t a solution. But it was something.
When they finished, Ruby pushed back her chair and stood.
“You cooked,” she said, brushing a kiss across Weiss’s cheek as she scooped up the plates. “I clean. Christmas rule. Go change into something comfy, snowflake.”
Weiss blinked, watching her wife start humming softly again as she moved to the sink. The tune was off-key, and the hum cracked halfway through a verse… still cheerful, still trying. It was the same effort Weiss had seen all morning, dressed up in a melody now. A performance for her sake, perhaps. But the intention behind it made Weiss’s chest ache all the same.
But there was cocoa foam on Ruby’s nose. And Weiss wasn’t done trying.
She turned and walked down the hallway, already thinking.
There had to be something more she could do.
The creak of the floorboards beneath her slippers was soft, the only sound aside from the faint hum of Ruby in the kitchen behind her. Weiss passed the framed photo of their wedding day on the hallway wall… Ruby’s grin so wide it was nearly feral, Weiss mid-eye-roll but smiling anyway… and felt something clench warmly in her chest.
Ruby had tried so hard to smile through the ache this morning. Weiss wanted to meet that effort with something equally fierce in return. She wanted to make Ruby beam the way she used to as a girl opening presents, legs bouncing, eyes shining. She wanted to make the weight in Ruby’s voice lift, even if just for a moment.
Inside the bedroom, sunlight spilled softly across their shared bed, casting their mismatched pillows in gentle gold. Ruby’s side of the room was already mildly chaotic… blankets shoved half-off, a robe draped over the back of a chair, a pair of socks clinging desperately to the corner of the dresser drawer.
Weiss crossed to the closet, opening it with a quiet sigh.
She paused in front of the slightly messier half. Ruby’s side.
She eyed the hoodie. It was soft, worn, and Ruby’s favorite on her. Logical. Easy. It would make Ruby smile.
Weiss reached for it without speaking. Crimson red with faded graphics of some obscure comic Ruby had adored since childhood, it was worn-in and warm to the touch. Whenever Weiss wore it, Ruby lit up like a power grid. It was familiar. Safe. Thoughtful.
She tugged the sleeve free…
And stopped.
There it was. Hanging in the very back. Slightly crushed from being jammed between a puffer jacket and a ghastly Valean holiday sweater.
The reindeer costume.
Full body brown fleece. White belly. Oversized fuzzy hooves. A headband with two plush antlers, one of which had clearly lost its structural integrity and now flopped to the side like it had simply given up.
Weiss stared at it like it might lunge at her.
“No,” she said flatly. “Absolutely not.”
She let go of the hoodie, folding her arms with a quiet huff as she took a single step back to reassess this spiraling descent into sentimentality.
“That is a crime against fashion. It’s unsanctioned. It’s borderline unethical.”
The reindeer did not respond. Just hung there. Mocking her.
Weiss turned away toward the dresser, her eyes flicking once more to the hoodie. It was safe. Predictable. But it wouldn’t be enough… not today.
…Ruby had loved that stupid costume. She’d worn it all day last Christmas… before, during, and after the Great Glitter Incident. An explosion of shimmering dust had turned their living room into a sparkling crime scene, and Weiss had spent weeks finding rogue flecks of gold embedded in the furniture, their clothes, even her combat boots. She still refused to speak of the event. And when Ruby had convinced her to try it on… only the antlers, just to see how it looked… she’d nearly cried laughing.
Weiss exhaled slowly.
“This is madness,” she muttered. “I am a Schnee. I have standards. I do not wear glittered onesies.”
She turned again. And found her hand already reaching for it.
There was a pause. A long, resigned sigh.
“I’m going to regret this.”
She pulled the costume off its hanger, giving it a wary shake. A small puff of glitter floated off like holiday dust. Weiss stared at it, dead-eyed.
“How is there still glitter on this? It’s been dry-cleaned. Twice. I signed a waiver the second time.”
The reindeer, naturally, did not answer.
Weiss stared at the shimmer now clinging to her fingertips, equal parts appalled and resigned. If love had a dress code, apparently hers involved seasonal humiliation and residual craft supplies.
She changed quickly, lest she talk herself out of it. The memory of Ruby’s hollow smile flickered behind her eyes… the way it had tried to reach the corners and failed. That alone was enough to make Weiss pull the zipper up a little higher and keep going. The fleece was warm… alarmingly so… and Weiss tugged the zipper up in one swift, resigned motion, grimacing as if sealing a pact she knew she would never live down.
Then she turned to the mirror.
Her reflection blinked back at her. Wide blue eyes. Flushed cheeks. Reindeer.
One antler immediately drooped sideways.
Weiss stared at it, aghast, as if the traitorous plush limb had personally insulted her ancestry. She nudged it upright… only for it to flop again with even greater defiance. A flicker of despair passed over her face.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered. “Even the costume has no respect for me.”
Weiss reached up, trying to fix it. It flopped again.
Of course.
She pressed her hands to her face. Then dragged them down slowly.
“I cannot believe I am doing this.”
But when she looked again, something flickered behind the embarrassment. Something quiet. Something… soft.
If Ruby smiled… really smiled… because of this… then maybe, just maybe, it was worth it.
Weiss squared her shoulders. Took one last breath of love and resignation.
And marched toward the kitchen in full reindeer regalia.
Her slippers padded softly down the hallway as her muttering gained momentum.
“This is absurd. I resemble a department store mascot. If you don’t weep with gratitude, Ruby Rose, this will be the last time I sacrifice my dignity for seasonal cheer.”
She reached the kitchen threshold… then stopped.
Ruby stood at the sink, arms elbow-deep in bubbles, swaying terribly off-key to the tail end of some overly cheerful holiday tune. Her back was to Weiss, hair down and rumpled in that insistent way she always claimed wasn’t bedhead. Loose strands caught the morning light, flaring gold where they curved against her shoulders.
Weiss’s breath caught.
There was something quietly piercing about it. The way Ruby hummed despite everything, the way the morning light slid across her shoulders. Weiss froze in the doorway, struck not by grandeur, but by the smallness of the moment… and the way Ruby was still trying, even now, to carry joy like it weighed nothing at all.
And then Ruby turned.
Her eyes landed on Weiss.
Everything else stopped.
“WEISS?!”
The word came out somewhere between a shout and a gasp, and in the next instant Ruby launched forward, trailing a faint mist of suds and leaving a splash of soapy water in her wake as her feet skidded slightly on the tile. Still slightly damp and glowing with excitement, she threw herself at Weiss without hesitation.
“Oh no…”
Too late.
Weiss let out a startled yelp as Ruby collided into her like a rocket-propelled puppy, nearly lifting her off the floor with the sheer force of affection. Arms wrapped around her. A laugh choked out of Ruby like a spark catching flame.
“You’re a reindeer,” Ruby whispered, giddy and breathless. Her gaze flicked to the lopsided antler, and she let out a delighted laugh. “Oh my gods, one of them’s floppy… this is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen… My wife is a reindeer!”
Weiss flailed for balance, then sighed as Ruby began peppering her face and cheeks with kisses.
“This is the best Christmas ever.”
“I look ridiculous,” Weiss mumbled into Ruby’s shoulder.
“You look perfect,” Ruby said, beaming as she leaned back just enough to admire the full spectacle. “This is better than… than any present. Any breakfast. Anything.” Ruby’s voice cracked slightly as she laughed, overwhelmed. “You’re the greatest holiday miracle in antlers.”
Weiss gave a small groan of protest, which only encouraged Ruby further.
“I swear,” Weiss muttered, “we haven’t even opened the presents yet.”
Ruby blinked at her. Then smiled… really smiled… and cupped Weiss’s face in her still-damp hands.
“I already got the best one.”
Weiss blushed so hard she could feel her ears burn beneath the headband. “…I cannot believe you.”
Ruby gasped. “Wait! Wait-wait-wait… we need a photo. No, we require one. This has to be documented.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Ruby…”
“I’m already setting it up!”
And she was gone, darting into the living room in a blur of glee and rose petals. Weiss followed at a slower, more dignified shuffle, grumbling under her breath about glitter and betrayal.
By the time Weiss stepped into the living room, Ruby was already placing the camera carefully on the mantle. She tapped the timer setting with practiced glee, then spun on her heel with the urgency of someone defusing a bomb made of joy.
“C’mon, c’mon! Over here! No hiding in the hallway, you look amazing… antler and all!”
Weiss stepped into frame with the weariness of someone resigned to her fate. Arms loosely crossed, shoulders slightly slouched. One antler flopped. Of course.
And then Ruby was beside her, bouncing onto her toes to press a kiss to her cheek just as the camera flashed.
Click.
Ruby darted off with a spark of glee and returned just as fast, practically skipping back across the living room rug with the camera in hand. She clutched it like it might evaporate if she blinked, eyes wide and alight with triumph.
“Okay okay okay… you have to see this!”
She spun the display around and thrust it toward Weiss with gleaming eyes.
Weiss blinked at the screen.
There she stood, full reindeer regalia, one antler listing pitifully to the left. Her arms were loosely crossed, her mouth mid-protest. And beside her, Ruby was on her toes, mid-kiss, smile blooming so bright it nearly outshone the tree behind them.
Weiss groaned softly. “Why does the antler look worse in the picture?”
“Because it’s perfect,” Ruby whispered.
They stood like that for a breath… Ruby holding the camera between them, Weiss staring at the proof of her surrender. It was ridiculous and a little humiliating… and somehow, deeply warm.
And it was everything.
“I’m going to treasure this forever,” Ruby whispered in her ear, arms slipping around her waist.
Weiss, soft and almost too quiet to hear, replied:
“…I already do.”
A/N:
A huge thank-you to Sara117_Ao3 for beta reading, your feedback always means so much, especially when I’m on another fic-writing spree and dragging you along for the ride. I truly appreciate you taking the time to help make my chaos coherent!
As soon as this idea hit me, I knew I had to write it. Seasonal depression can be really rough this time of year, and something about watching Ruby and Weiss navigate it in their own quietly adorkable way just felt right. Weiss doesn’t have the words to fix it, but that doesn’t stop her from trying. Even if it means sacrificing her dignity to a floppy antler and a glittery onesie.
...And of course, it’s completely worth it to see the look on Ruby’s face. Even if Weiss nearly gets tackled and kissed to death in the process. (Not that she’d admit she enjoyed it. She’ll complain. But she won’t stop her.)