#sub!ruby rose

She takes in the way Ruby smiles when someone talks to her, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes, and the way she keeps twisting the plastic cup between her hands, staring down at it like there’s something hidden at the bottom.

So when Ruby disappears toward the quieter side of the yard, Weiss follows. She finds her sitting in one of those old fold-out chairs, the kind that sink slightly when you put too much weight into them. Ruby’s knees are pulled close to her chest, her silver eyes fixed on the grass.

Weiss is quiet at first, sitting in the chair beside her, the metal creaking. Ruby lets out a small, humorless laugh. “You know, I thought after everything we’ve been through, we’d have better chairs.”

Weiss looks down at the faded fabric beneath her. “I’m fairly certain this chair is older than some of our teachers.”

Ruby smiles, a brief expression before the silence returns.

“Weiss?”

“Mm?”

Ruby picks at a loose thread on her sleeve. “Do you ever think about what happens after?”

Weiss turns her head slightly. “After what?”

“After the missions. After the Grimm. After everyone stops needing us to save the world.”

Weiss shifts, unsure of how to respond. They’ve both spent years fighting for tomorrow, but neither of them ever really talked about what tomorrow was supposed to look like.

Weiss looks toward the yard. Their friends are celebrating. Laughing and moving on.

Ruby’s graduation should feel like an ending. Instead, she looks like she’s mourning something.

“I thought I’d feel different,” Ruby admits quietly. “I thought I’d be happy. I mean, we did it. We actually did it.”

“You should be happy,” Weiss murmurs. “You worked hard for this.”

“I know,” Ruby swallows. “Everyone keeps telling me how proud they are. How far I’ve come, and I am proud, Weiss. I am. But sometimes I feel like everyone’s celebrating the person I became and nobody remembers the person I lost.”

She understands what Ruby means. The girl who ran into danger without thinking, and believed every problem could be solved if she just tried hard enough. The girl who smiled even when she was scared. The girl who had to grow up too fast.

“We’ve never actually talked about this, have we?” Weiss’s voice is even as Ruby looks over. “We’ve talked about Salem. About Beacon. About everything that happened.” Weiss’s fingers tighten around the armrest of her chair. “But not… this.”

“Guess I’m not sure what to say.” Ruby shrugs, and Weiss hates the look on her face. Pausing for a moment, she leans over and takes the girls hand as she stares at her, at the girl she loves that has had to carry an impossible weight for most of her life.

“You don’t have to do this all on your own?” Weiss murmurs. “We’re here for you. I’m here for you.”

Ruby blinks several times, her silver eyes glassy, and Weiss swallows. Sniffing, Ruby stands up, her hand still holding Weiss’s. “Can we go?”

“Go where?” Weiss asks, and Ruby shrugs again.

“J-just somewhere else,” Ruby whispers. “Your place.”

The implication is there, thick as smoke, but Weiss doesn’t ignore it. She sees it, wants it, and she stands up too. She leans forward, pressing her mouth to Ruby’s cheek and Ruby shudders, her eyes closing at the contact.

“If that’s what you want.”

“Its what I want.” Ruby insists, and Weiss nods. She tells the others they’re leaving, and while some of them make odd faces, none of them question it.

The walk back is quiet, and Weiss can’t tell if Ruby is crying or not. When they get to her apartment, Weiss takes Ruby by the forearm and pulls her close, noses brushing at the proximity. Ruby’s eyes grow wide, and she’s already breathing hard, already panting, her lips open to display the pink of her tongue.

“You tell me when to stop,” Weiss murmurs. “Okay?”

Ruby nods quickly, her hair bouncing and then she’s moving forward, pressing her mouth to Weiss’s. Weiss moves her back, navigating them to her room and she’s very glad her roommate isn’t home. No one else gets to see Ruby like this, only her.

When the back of her knees hit the edge of the matress, Ruby sits and instantly grabs the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Her bra is black with a red bow in the center and Weiss smiles, dropping to her knees, her hands rubbing up and down Ruby’s thighs.

“This is comforting, yeah?” Weiss asks, and Ruby nods. “You’re not hiding from me, right?”

“No.”

“Ruby,” Weiss hums, her hands moving up to the zipper of Ruby’s jeans. “You’re not lying, right?”

Ruby shakes her head quickly, leaning forward to put her hands on Weiss’s shoulders. “I swear I’m not. I just wanna feel good like *this* for a little bit.”

“Alright,” Weiss nods and pulls down the zipper. Ruby lifts her hips to help, and shimmies the jeans down. “Just remember if you’re using this as a complete escape and not a break, I’m stopping. So let me know, okay?”

A faint smile flitters on Ruby’s face. “Okay.”

Leaning forward, Weiss presses her nose into the cotton of Ruby’s underwear, inhaling deeply before she sighs. Nothing is as good as Ruby’s scent when she’s needy, and Weiss pulls back, dragging her underwear down without a second thought. Ruby leans back, propped on her elbows before Weiss slides her thighs over each shoulder, pressing a kiss to the soft skin.

When Weiss flicks her tongue out, Ruby drops her weight, lets her back lay flush to the mattress as Weiss repeats the action. She starts slow, building a rhythm, letting Ruby to wind up like a clock. Ruby starts moving first, intentional rolls of her hips, grinding her clit against Weiss’s tongue in slick, messy movements.

The pressure builds quickly, but it always does with them, because Weiss knows her best. She knows what makes Ruby tick, what makes her laugh and what makes her sigh into the sheets.

That’s why Weiss can tell she needs to stop. She isn’t sure if it’s from the way Ruby moans or the shaking in her thighs, but she can tell Ruby doesn’t need Weiss’s head or hands.

She needs her shoulder to cry on.

Pulling back, Weiss wipes at her mouth, sitting on her haunches. Ruby gasps at the loss of contact, sitting up quickly. “What the hell?”

Shaking her head, Weiss stands up and throws Ruby a pair of her sweatpants. “Not tonight.”

“Weiss-“

“Ruby,” Weiss turns to her, her brows raised in question. “Do you trust me?” Ruby closes her mouth before she nods slowly. “Good. Then trust that I know this isn’t what you need,” she moves past her, sitting up against the headboard of her bed before patting her lap. “This is.”

Ruby frowns, pulling on the sweatpants without a word before she climbs on the bed, and gingerly sets her head in Weiss’s lap. Using the tips of her fingers, Weiss cards her hand through Ruby’s hair, scratching lightly in a soothing rhythm. Ruby is quiet for several moments until her shoulders begin to shake, her knees moving up to her chest as if to make herself smaller, and she begins to cry.

Weiss closes her eyes, continuing her scratches as she lets Ruby cry it out, knowing that truly this is all Ruby needed. A place to let her walls down, and her sorrow out.

Weiss isn’t sure how long they lay like that, her hands in Ruby’s hair and Ruby’s face pressed to her thighs to hide her tears, but eventually her breathing evens out, her shoulders still, and her crying softens. When she falls asleep, Weiss leans forward, pressing a kiss to the crown of Ruby’s head.

“It’s alright, petal,” Weiss whispers, sitting up and continuing to scratch along Ruby’s hairline. “I got you.”

With shaking breathes, Weiss leans back, still running her hands along Ruby’s head, for as long as the girl wants.

x

Divider @pixopix