Things are getting heated up in this iconic scene!

Chapter 6: The Drawing

"That's all you want?" Ruby asked inquisitively as she sharpened her charcoal.

They were back in Weiss' room and the heiress was getting ready in her bathroom. She looked over herself in the mirror and made sure everything looked perfect. Not a hair was out of place. She nervously gulped. No turning back now… she had to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do.

A portrait of Weiss' choosing. Payment for the meal earlier. Ruby was fine with it, though she argued it really didn't feel like enough to pay back for what seemed like expensive food.

Well, Weiss will be the judge of that.

"So what kinda portrait do you want?" Ruby asked absentmindedly, more focused on finding a good hardness. Weiss watched as Ruby ran her fingers up and down the shaft, checking the stiffness and how much got on her hands.

…So dirty…

"…I want you to draw me wearing this…" she whispered and dropped her thin robe. The sound of fabric sliding against her skin and folding to the floor was the last sound they heard as Ruby looked up and froze.

"…"

Weiss felt her face flushing hotter and hotter. Ruby's mouth was hanging open and she made no move to close it.

Just how long did they stay like that? Neither side even breathed, fearful of disturbing the moment.

Ruby watched in fascination, unable to take her eyes away; Weiss embarrassed and reveled in the knowledge that Ruby was staring at her so intently.

"…Y-you're not wearing anything!" Ruby sputtered out when she finally found her words.

Weiss stood in front of Ruby in all her glory. Not a shred of clothing. Not a piece of jewelry. Nothing.

Cold dry air nipped at her skin and she felt certain parts of her prickling and tensing. Ruby was watching her. Ruby was watching her body flushing and becoming aroused! The thought was… exhilarating!

"D-draw me like one of your Patch girls!" Weiss practically shouted as she looked away, not trusting her mouth to work while looking at Ruby.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Ruby shakily nod.

She slowly eased herself onto the sofa, shivering as her skin made contact with the cold upholstery.

Now what?

She wasn't so sure at this point. How should she sit? Just how much should she… display?

She looked questioningly at Ruby, waiting for direction… who was in turn waiting for her to get ready.

"Ahem!" Weiss cleared her throat and finally got Ruby's eyes to look at her face and not… elsewhere… everywhere.

"How should I sit?" Weiss asked, grimacing slightly at how stupid the question must have made her sound.

"H-huh?!" Ruby squeaked. Why was Weiss asking her when she asked for the portrait in the first place? But when she saw how uncomfortable Weiss was, she understood immediately.

"Oh… well, what do you want to see in the portrait?" a smile eased back to her face. Seeing Weiss so embarrassed helped dispersed the tension somewhat.

The question was simple. What kind of emotions, what kind piece do you want? In all of Ruby's works, she wove the personalities and emotions behind every facade, every line, every stroke. A bit of herself, a bit of her subject matter. Together, they created the artwork. What did Weiss want to see in this portrait?

"…me…" Weiss cast her eyes downward and whispered so lowly Ruby almost didn't hear her.

Herself? Well of course it will be her. She was the subject matter after all.

But Ruby understood it a bit deeper than that.

She thought for a moment and looked around the room before standing up and slowly walking over to the dresser. Weiss looked at her confusedly but noticing her walking back without holding anything.

"Hold still," Ruby ordered and walked behind Weiss.

"H-hey! What are you-?!" Weiss stammered as Ruby left her field of vision. Just what was the little Red planning? Not being able to see Ruby renewed a sense of fear and realization that she was very exposed and absolutely defenseless.

Something tugged at her hair and her hand flew up to find out what Ruby placed on her.

"Ah-bah-bah-bah!" Ruby swatted her hand away softly. "It's a surprise!" she grinned.

Weiss frowned, unsure why Ruby messed with her hair, but Ruby set to work placing her in a pose. Ruby ran her fingers along Weiss' arms and legs, carefully maneuvering them into position and easing Weiss to lay down on the sofa. Maybe it was just Weiss' imagination, but did Ruby linger her touch a slight second longer than necessary each time? Her fingers traced the gentle curves on Weiss skin and Weiss had to hold back everything not to shiver and twitch from the pose Ruby so painstakingly placed her in.

Weiss felt even more naked than possible. In this position, lying supine on the sofa with her arms and legs slightly draped in a relaxing position made her feel so vulnerable, so shameless.

"Perfect," Ruby breathed as she went back to her art station.

Then she began to work.

Contrasting to how she acted only a few seconds ago, the Ruby in front of Weiss now sketched with a fervor. Her fingers ran back and forth on the page, her eyes flicking up at Weiss every few seconds, never once hesitating but retreating quickly to not lose the precious image that was burned into her retinas.

Gone was the hesitant child. She was a full artist now. Nudity was no stranger to her. Her many previous works can attest to that.

Seeing Ruby so in her element made Weiss relax as well. Her arms and legs didn't feel placed anymore as she ever so carefully shifted her weight onto and off to them into a truly relaxing pose.

Ruby didn't seem to notice, too focused on capturing Weiss' figure. Charcoal sticks were changed out whenever a different hardness was needed. Her fingers expertly smeared where she needed softer lines and shading. She wanted to get this right. She had to get Weiss perfectly right!

Might as well have a bit of fun, Weiss thought.

"Are you blushing, Ms. Artist?" Weiss smirked slightly. A bit mean-spirited teasing since she moved slightly, but it was worth it to see Ruby fumbled for even a slightest moment. If she wasn't before, she was definitely now!

"N-no!" Ruby called back, though with her concentration broken, she wasn't "in the zone" anymore.

Whereas Ruby's concentration was focused 50-50 before, her eyes straying to Weiss and the page evenly divided, Weiss now caught her staring far longer. Her hand even paused once in a while, absolutely no movement as she basked in Weiss' figure. In those moments, it was as if time froze for both and they took in each others' figures.

But the moment Ruby realized Weiss was looking back, as if Weiss ever wasn't, she would duck her head down and continue twice as hard as if to prove that she was just observing details. Not that it deterred her from doing it again in a few minutes.

…

Just how long did it take?

Weiss didn't bother looking at the clock on the wall though it was directly in front of her. Her eyes were glued onto Ruby to catch those straying glimpses Ruby thought she was fast enough to avoid detection. Cute that Ruby thought she was that fast though.

Before long, Ruby called out to her model that she was finished.

Weiss slowly got up from the sofa, noting how the leather slightly stuck to her skin, a slightly uncomfortable sensation coupled with how cold she felt.

She made her way over slowly, Ruby was still applying the finishing touches. Her head was down and focused on getting the final details absolutely perfect.

Sidling behind Ruby unnoticed, she looked over her shoulder and gasped slightly.

"EEP?!" Ruby nearly jumped from Weiss' sudden presence.

Weiss couldn't care less at the moment though, her gaze transfixed on what Ruby had drawn.

It was her, yes. But at the same time, a Weiss that she had never seen before.

Her hand slowly drifted to her head, finally realizing what Ruby had done.

The Weiss in the picture laid across a sofa, her arms and legs comfortably set. Her weight was evenly distributed, she was as relaxed as Weiss felt posing for the portrait towards the end. She didn't show off her body, as strangely as Weiss found it. The pose was… revealing, but the attention was not drawn to her body, so much as it was drawn to the naturalistic curves that relaxed her body.

And atop her head? Accentuating her was a ponytail, offside and pooled slightly on the armrest.

One hand reached up and unconsciously played with her hair, entangling her fingers between the silky strands; the other traced the drawn hair shyly, as if not quite believing they were one and the same. Her hair neatly tied up showed off her neck, the slender lines drew attention to her face framed by her bangs.

Weiss couldn't believe it. This… this girl. She couldn't be Weiss. Her face was all wrong. Her eyes…looked so soft and beckoning. Like a child lost and praying for someone to find her. Her mouth looked neutral, a lonely reminder of her solitary heart, but Weiss could see the tiny, ever tiny quirks of a smile tugging at the corners.

She couldn't have been Weiss. Weiss was cold, and lonely, and pushed everyone away. This girl… was alone, but wanted friends… and was optimistic that she will find friends, that she will find happiness.

Thus that girl wasn't Weiss. Weiss wasn't that girl.

"D-do you like it?" Ruby ventured as Weiss stayed silent.

The childish voice chimed and shook her out of self-denial. Ruby's words resonated in her and suddenly, things became clear.

Of course Weiss wouldn't see herself in this girl. Ruby was the one drawing. This was what Ruby saw.

Underneath that facade, underneath all of the pettiness, the mean-spiritedness, the loneliness, Weiss was just a girl. Ruby spent much of her life just watching others. Observing them, taking down their likeness in ways that they sometime didn't even realize.

She had seen Weiss bored. She had seen Weiss upset and grimacing. She had seen how disparaging and scathing Weiss could be about something she disagreed with. She had seen how even in a room full of people, Weiss was more alone than anyone else.

But at the same time, she saw how Weiss liked to tease her, almost with a childish whimsy. How Weiss found the little joys in life to stave off boredom as best she could. How she, despite her self-assured mean-spiritedness, would go out of her way to buy a girl she only met a night ago breakfast simply because she heard the girl's stomach growling.

Ruby saw the facade that Weiss wore. It was a mask that many tried to hide behind. Weiss was just better than most others.

But underneath that mask was what Ruby wanted to bring out. To show the girl that she was more than just an ice sculpture that someone else crafted.

"What's with the ponytail?" Weiss asked, not looking at Ruby and pretending to stare at the portrait longer. She didn't know what kind of face she was making and wanted to compose herself a bit before looking at Ruby.

"Oh! Uh.. well," Ruby nervously stammered. She had bigger problems. Weiss was behind her, still peering over her shoulder at the image. The heat Ruby felt near the nape of her neck made her mind race. Weiss still wasn't wearing anything! She feared but desperately wanted to turn around. "I thought it might make the composition more balanced?"

When Weiss remained silent and unmoving, waiting for Ruby to give her real answer, Ruby swallowed hard. "I… think you're trying too hard to be the perfect image that everyone has… I thought… maybe you'd feel more free if you just went against that… just.. break up the symmetry…"

Her words were hesitant and fragmented, not sure if they were what Weiss wanted to hear. But that was fine. It wasn't what Weiss wanted to hear; it was something Weiss needed to hear.

Like a key to her gilded cage, Weiss found freedom in Ruby's words. Pointing out the flaws in her perfection. Meaningfully setting her hair to part off-center, a rebellion against the shackles the bounded her, if only by a margin.

Ruby spent her life observing others. In only a few short meetings, she quickly realized what Weiss was yearning for: freedom and a self-identity.

Weiss closed her eyes and smiled sadly. She wasn't wrong then. She made the right choice to choose Ruby….

The thought made her a bit sad. This might be the first, the last, and superfluously only time that she will choose…

But it was a choice Weiss wouldn't have given up for anything else.

"It's very befitting of me," Weiss told Ruby who let go of a breath she had been holding while waiting for Weiss to approve.

"Phew~ glad you liked it," Ruby's grin was back full force. "So what picture do you want next?" She was happy that Weiss liked it. In fact, she was even ready and willing to create even more works afterwards if Weiss was so eager… a thought that made her blush return.

"No…" Weiss carefully placed the portrait on a table and walked behind Ruby. Her arms slowly encircled around the artist's slender neck and she pressed her chest onto Ruby's back, noting how Ruby froze up at the sensation. She leaned in close, her lips mere millimeters from Ruby's ear.

"I can think of a better way you can pay me back," her voice was low and sultry. With Ruby so distracted, she didn't even feel the world shift around her as Weiss edged her backwards slowly.

Before Ruby could respond, Weiss leaned back, shifting their center and letting her weight and gravity guide them both. At the last second, she spun around, surprising Ruby who "eep"-ed cutely as she pinned the girl's arms down to the soft mattress.

"Weis-?!"

Weiss silenced Ruby's cry with her lips. Eyes closed, she focused on the soft sensations and warm breath. As Ruby's lips melted into hers, she felt Ruby's arms and legs tense and struggle slightly, no doubt from the lack of air.

Cute.

Weiss didn't let up for a moment, enjoying as she felt Ruby's limbs eventually give and relaxed into resignation.

…sniffle…

Wait, sniffle?

Weiss slowly opened her eyes… and saw tears streaming from Ruby's own.

She quickly broke away and let go of Ruby's wrists, worried that she had somehow hurt her.

Ruby didn't sit up, just continued sobbing as she drew an arm across her face and hid her eyes from Weiss. Her entire body was shaking from how hard her sobs were.

"R-Ruby?" Weiss tentatively asked, not knowing exactly what had happened. She… may have been a bit too forward… but she was getting all of the signs from Ruby! The blushing, the furtive touches, the- the everything!

Nothing to it but to wait it out.

…

Eventually, Ruby's cries subsided. How long did it take? Weiss didn't know, nor did she care. Bared though she was, the chill in her heart that she somehow hurt the younger girl was far colder than her skin.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked softly again.

"… …. …. p-promise…" came the shaky response between sniffles.

Weiss didn't understand, but she didn't say anything. She waited for Ruby to continue when she was good and ready.

It took a while longer for Ruby to finally gain enough composure to answer, and even then with a hoarse voice and interrupting cries and hiccups. "Y…Yang and I p-promised!… hic… T-that… t-that we would n-ever….sniffle… s-sell ourselves f-for food!"

Weiss froze.

Prostitution. This was what this was. Plain and simple. She was forcing herself onto Ruby as payment for the meal.

The thought sickened her.

"I-I… sorry," she stated dejectedly. "It was never my intention… to use that as an excuse…"

The mood was ruined. Weiss was frustrated. Physically, sexually, but most of all emotionally because of her unintended slight. A wry and scathing part of her whispered that was how she was destined to end: pushing away anyone who tried to get close to her in the cruelest way possible. That was her true nature. The lonely little girl desperate for comfort and company was merely a lie.

As she turned away slowly to leave Ruby in peace, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she already did, a small tug on her wrist stopped her.

"…w-what did you say?" Ruby's raspy voice called from behind her.

"W-what are you talking about?" Weiss asked slowly, not sure what Ruby meant. She pulled her arm slightly, but Ruby's grip didn't waver in the slightest.

"You said excuse?"

She willed herself to slowly turn and face Ruby.

Red puffy eyes that narrowed into an almost glare, tear streaks still stained her cheeks. Weiss couldn't ascribe the emotions that must be whirling inside Ruby. Anger? Hate? Confusion?

Ruby asked her a question… and she couldn't lie to save her life.

"Why did you say 'excuse'?" Ruby asked again. Her tone betrayed nothing.

Weiss nervously gulped. "Because…" Her mouth felt dry. She wasn't used to this kind of forward answer. Everything was always behind a mask. Everything always had a reason. Everything… always had… an excuse.

"…because I wanted you…" she whispered softly, her head down so that Ruby couldn't see the face she was making.

"…wanted… me?" Ruby's voice cracked as she spoke. Was it disbelief? Weiss couldn't tell, but she wouldn't have blamed her. She scarcely believed it herself.

Instead she just nodded curtly.

"…" Ruby remained silent for a while before asking, "Do you like me?"

Weiss bit back a remark about anyone not liking Ruby. Instead, just another nod.

Her face heated up as she felt even more embarrassed than posing nude just a few minutes ago. How was this possible?! How was just admitting to that even more embarrassing?!

The presence around her wrist disappeared and Weiss was both relieved and disappointed. Still, Ruby had her answer and was probably disgusted with Weiss now. So she should just slink away in misery and defeat…

Before she could turn again, warm hands clasped around her cheeks, forcing her to look up. Ruby's face filled her field of view and she felt something warm and soft on her lips again.

Her mind froze…

Wait! Wasn't this what she was doing with Ruby earlier?!

As many questions as she had, they crashed against the pleasure and warmth that filled her lips and seeped through her body.

All too soon, Ruby eased back and Weiss felt saddened that it would end again, but Ruby's hands never let go. Taking that as her cue to continue, Weiss leaned forward as well, collapsing on top of Ruby once more.

Weiss' hands nearly strayed. She wanted to. Oh how she desperately wanted to! But she couldn't! Not right now! Not when she still didn't understand!

By the time they let up for air, their faces were flush and and their breathing came in near synchronous pants.

"Why?" Weiss asked. She had to know. Not that she didn't feel extremely exhilarated from their short make-out session, but… why?

Ruby smiled and wiped away what remained of her tears. "Because… I like you, and I wanted you too…"

Weiss couldn't believe it! "Y-you mean?" She couldn't possibly heard what she thought she heard, right?! Her mouth was gaping open.

Ruby giggled at Weiss' expression. She looked so silly. Ruby would have to plug up that open mouth, and she knew the best way. Her hands moved from Weiss cheeks to behind her head, pulling her down into a much deeper, much more passionate kiss.

The kiss that began everything.

And this will be the last chapter for the T rating. What happens next... well for Mature definitely, ehehehe~



That said, since this won't be rated T anymore, I would suggest following to be notified of when this will update if you don't tend to filter in M-rated stories and want to see what happens next. I'll try to keep going as scheduled, but no promises sadly.

As always, I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter. Hope you like how their relationship is progressing and I'll see you next chapter!