"Hey Pyrrha?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha glanced up from her homework to find Ruby staring at her with concerned silver eyes. "Yes?"

"Are you… alright?" Pyrrha's brow furrowed at the question, a cue that Ruby picked up on. "I know you've been kinda sorta stressed a lot and you look pretty tense and yeah I'll stop talking now…" Ruby finished, awkwardly twiddling her thumbs.

Emerald eyes slowly blinked as Ruby fidgeted. "Sorry." Pyrrha's head dipped down as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "You'd think that after helping Jaune train at night for so long I'd be better with time allocation…" Turning back to the nearly gone pile of school work, Pyrrha let out a small sigh. "Just need to finish a few things and then I'll be ready for our date tonight, I promise!"

That, however, was not good enough for Ruby. Or rather, that wasn't enough of a reassurance that Pyrrha was going to be fine. "Hmm, I have an idea!" Silver eyes lit up as Ruby dashed out of the room, leaving a pile of rose petals. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

A small, happy smile crossed Pyrrha's face. "I'm looking forward to it!"

Pyrrha liked to think that she had a good memory… then again, her memory could just be playing tricks on her.

I'm certain that we agreed on going to Simple Wok. She knew this for the simple fact, that it was something that Pyrrha had been looking forward to for the entire day – and not just because it was a date with Ruby.

Given the amount of training and muscle mass she had, Pyrrha was a tad guilty of really liking some foods. Lo mein for instance. Hence, Simple Wok. Plus no one recognized her as a celebrity there, which was always a positive. Looking at the reminders on her scroll, it clearly said 'Date at Simple Wok – 5pm'. Yet… Ruby was excitedly leading her towards the opposite direction.

So where are we going? Pyrrha decided to keep the question unspoken as Ruby led her by the hand past street after street. I'll guess it'll just be a nice surprise?

When the duo finally did stop in front of the destination, it was mostly definitely a surprise.

It was the most luxurious spa in Vale.

Emerald eyes slowly turned towards Ruby in shock.

"I, uh, sorta asked Weiss if she knew any places that had a hot spring… that-I-could-afford-and-she-insisted-on-paying-for-it-herself-as-a-gift!" That last bit came out as a mumbled rush. "So… um, yeah…"

"So this is where…" Pyrrha couldn't quite believe it, Ruby's words still sinking in. "No, wait, I thought we were going to go to Simple Wok, not that I'm complaining!" Pyrrha frantically waved her hands in distress for a moment at the social faux pas.

"Hot springs and spas and stuff help people relax… and you deserve that." Ruby hugged Pyrrha from the side, only to be engulfed by the bigger redhead's grateful embrace.

"This is so weeeeird!"

Ruby hesitantly put her foot in the hot water, a single towel wrapped around her.

Pyrrha looked on, an amused twinkle in her eyes. "Yes, but I've heard that they are quite good." Slowly Pyrrha walked into it, a content sigh involuntary sprung forth as she sank into the warm waters.

Awkwardly shuffling around the large pool, Pyrrha finally found a spot that was just the right height before slowly sitting down. It wasn't long until Ruby joined her, although with some difficulty.

A comfortable spot to sit for Pyrrha, where the water was up to her shoulders meant for the significantly shorter redhead, it was up to her eyes. It took Pyrrha a few minutes to notice this as Ruby kept trying to sit down… and sinking. "Sorry!" Pyrrha started to get up only for a hand to clamp down on her arm.

"Nope~! You relax, and I'll figure this out… and I think I figured it out." A comforting weight plopped down in Pyrrha's lap, as Ruby took her seat. "There, see, all better!"

Pyrrha gave her a smile before pulling Ruby against her in a lazy hug.

She could feel the tension slowly leave her, as she soaked in the hot water. It might have been minutes or hours later when she finally spoke. "We really need to thank Weiss for renting out this pool."

"Hehe, yeah… it would have been kinda weird if there were other people here. It's just me and you." Ruby playfully poked Pyrrha's nose on 'you', eliciting a giggle from her. "I know I couldn't relax if there were other people here that were naked."

Pyrrha felt another peal of laughter bubble up at how scandalized Ruby sounded at the concept. "They would be wearing a towel, like us. So not completely naked."

Ruby stuck out her tongue as a way of responding. "Close enough. So! Are you feeling any better?"

"A lot better, thanks Ruby." Pyrrha hummed with contentment. "I didn't even knew how badly I wanted this." The lazy embrace pulled Ruby up to receive a lingering kiss from her beloved. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ruby pulled back, much to Pyrrha's confusion. "I have another idea too… um… are you still stressed?"

"Perhaps a little?"

"I… uh, could, er… give you a massage?"

Pyrrha found herself nodding, as a dopey smile spread across her lips. "If you're sure?"

"Yup!" Pyrrha wordlessly turned around, before uncovering her back. "Just… tell me if I'm doing okay?"

"Of course!"

Pyrrha didn't have a clue what Ruby was doing, but the moment the shorter girl's hands touched her back, the elder redhead felt great.

No, great isn't the right word, Pyrrha numbly mused as she let out a very happy sigh, this feels divine. "A-am I doing okay?" The hands stopped after a few minutes, clearly seeking some input.

"Uh-huh." Pyrrha didn't trust herself to form words as Ruby started back up again. How… when did she learn how to do this? Did she always know how to do this? If that was the case, Pyrrha was going to definitely inquire for more in the future. Not that she needed to make a mental note of it as she hummed with content.

It was like Ruby's hands were forcing whatever knots of tension were still in Pyrrha's back out. Muscles Pyrrha didn't even realized were tense suddenly felt loose. Adding the hot spring water of the pool, and Pyrrha was currently feeling amazing.

Unfortunately for all parties involved, Pyrrha realized she may have just been a smidge too vocal about her contentment, as the doors to the pool flew open and a rather annoyed looking security guard came barreling out.

"There were noises." The burly looking woman simply stated, with crossed arms, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at them. "Explain."

"Uh-h-h, I-I w-was g-g-iving m-my girlfriend a ma-assage?" Ruby squeaked out. As the security guard looked unconvinced, Pyrrha had a single thought bouncing around in her content brain.

I need to pay Ruby back for this.

AU: Woo! Hot springs AND a massage chapter in one go! Going through all the tropes!

Honestly, I had no idea what I was writing and an hour later I have a 1200 word chapter, so that's neat! :D …seriously, I went "I should do a Spoon Equality chapter but I have no idea. Gorsouul said massages, I'm doing that." Poof, an hour later we have this.

In other news, I ALSO finished the first draft of chapter 22 of Acceptance today, so that should post on time either next Friday or Saturday! So that's neato! :D

Dilation should be on Monday!

Thank you for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D