Belle rocked back and forth on the balls her bare feet, keeping close to the bathroom door and away from the bathtub. Ruby stood across from her and at the edge of the tub in her adjoining bathroom with an amused expression.

"Belle, c'mon, it's not that bad," Ruby implored. She stuck her hand into the tub and pulled it out with a flourish to emphasize her point. "See? No harm, no foul."

Belle narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, still not buying it. Ruby was clearly anxious to get into the bath, but convincing Belle to join her was turning out to be unexpectedly difficult. It wasn't the water that was the problem but the white, foamy substance covering it. That was what was giving Belle pause, of all things.

"They're just bubbles," Ruby insisted. "There's nothing to be afraid of." Ruby's eyes sparkled with blatant adoration because even a Belle suspicious of a bubble bath was a Belle that Ruby loved.

Belle crossed her arms and squeezed herself further against the wall behind her in hopes of the subject being dropped. Growing antsy, Ruby approached Belle to plead her case. She grabbed the other girl's hand and tugged her forward, fighting against the dragging of Belle's feet. Eventually, they both stood near the tub, and Ruby leaned forward to scatter the bubbles so Belle could be sure that there was water underneath them. Proving that the bubbles actually did give way to water seemed to relax Belle, her lips releasing a soft "oh."

"See, babe, it's just water. I promise." Ruby inclined her head at the other girl prior to unbuttoning her flannel shirt and depositing it on the floor. She skillfully undid her jeans but decided to wait to take them off in case Belle was still wary. The last thing she wanted to do was force Belle into doing something she wasn't comfortable with. Ruby's hands settled on Belle's hips as she waited for Belle to finally decide. She pressed a kiss to Belle's neck in the meantime, more to busy herself than anything else.

Belle reasoned through it. Even though the... she believed Ruby called them, "bubbles," was it? Yes, bubbles. Even though the bubbles were new to her, that didn't mean they were bad. Just because she hadn't read a book or series before didn't mean it was terrible! Belle accepted the oddly appropriate analogy she had come up with. Bubbles were a new book made for exploration, and she was not one to turn down such a challenge. She detached Ruby from her skin to make sure the girl saw her nod. "Yes," she punctuated with a quick peck on the lips. "I'll do it. Would it be too much to ask you to get in first though?"

Ruby's face lit up and she shook her head vehemently in response to Belle's question. "No, yeah, that's fine! Great actually, yeah, awesome," Ruby rambled excitedly until Belle shut her up with a brief kiss.

"Breathe," Belle reminded, a part of her baiting Ruby to make a snarky comment.

Ruby, however, was too distracted to register Belle's tone. She dropped her remaining articles of clothing to the floor before slowly stepping into the water. A sigh of pleasure escaped her as she lowered her body beneath the warm water. She closed her eyes in bliss for a moment, but then she realized she was alone and opened her eyes again.

"C'mon," Ruby murmured.

Belle removed her garments, ignoring Ruby's wandering eyes. Upon making eye contact, Belle easily observed the dilation of Ruby's pupils. She had to hold back a satisfied giggle. The Big Bad Wolf, seduced by an unassuming girl who loved to read. Ruby held out a dripping hand for Belle to take, refocusing Belle's attention, and the girl obliged, grasping the hand as she worked towards putting one foot inside the bath.

"It's a little warm, but the bubbles don't feel like anything," Ruby chimed in. She wanted to do her best to make sure Belle was okay with this.

Belle nodded without really listening, taking her own pace in slipping into the water. At last, Belle's body rested against Ruby's inside the tub. It was a wonder they didn't cause an overflow. The thought provoked Ruby to giggle, which made Belle giggle too, out of pure contagiousness. Ruby muffled her joy against Belle's exposed shoulder, biting down lightly without giving the action much thought. Belle twisted in the water to give Ruby a look.

Ruby raised her eyebrows in genuine confusion. "What?"

"You don't need to mark me. I'm not going anywhere," Belle teased.

It dawned on Ruby then, what she had done, and a guilty face stared back at Belle. "I wasn't really thinking about—"

"I know," Belle cut her off. "Wolf instinct. I understand." She smirked to let Ruby know she wasn't serious; she didn't mind it, not in the least.

Ruby nodded a few times to signify that Belle was heard by her. Soon enough, Ruby scooped up a handful of bubbles and presented them jokingly to Belle. The girl scoffed in vanity, refusing Ruby's gift. A whine came from Ruby, causing Belle to glance behind her, and that was when Ruby ambushed her. She swiftly blew into the pile of bubbles in her hands, sending them flying. She watched them land outside the tub, on top of other bubbles, and all over Belle's hair and face.

Ruby grinned like a dog who had done something to please its owner. Belle rolled her eyes halfheartedly. "Jerk."

Overconfident now, Ruby was content in Belle not being able to surprise her, but that wasn't much Belle's style. While Ruby relaxed against the ceramic, Belle gathered a substantial amount of bubbles and very quietly began to assemble them all around Ruby's face, forming a beard and such other facial decorations. Then she tapped Ruby's nose, the girl coming back down to earth like Belle had expected. Ruby's nose got all scrunched up as she wiped a hand across her chin, coming away with bubbles.

"Sneaky," Ruby conceded. "Very sneaky."

But the poker face Ruby put on fooled no one. Her hands found Belle's stomach in an instant and began moving rapidly, tickling Belle more with each squeak that she emitted. "Give up?" Ruby chanted as she continued her lighthearted attack on Belle.

"No!"

"Seriously?" Ruby asked incredulously. Belle was splashing water all over the bathroom tiles. "You're making a huge mess." Ruby tried to speak to her chidingly, but her incessant laughter gave her away.

"Okay, fine!" Belle felt the assault wind down until Ruby's hands wrapped around her to rest on her stomach. Belle's shrieks had turned into chuckling. "Fine."

They settled against each other, absorbing the joy of being together. Ruby tucked Belle's hair behind her ear when the girl looked back at her happily. "So," Ruby began. "Now that you've had a proper bubble bath experience, courtesy of moi, how was it?"

Belle adopted an air of faux contemplation that lasted only a moment before becoming a soft smile. "Bubble baths aren't all that bad, surprisingly. You were actually right." Ruby grinned. Belle sunk lower in the water as she prepared to broach a slightly more serious topic. "Ruby, I—thank you, for always being there for me. I don't always comprehend the things in this world, nor do I know precisely how to start going about my education of them, so, just... I want to thank you for helping me. With everything."

Ruby graciously offered a half-smile, followed by a tender kiss. "Anytime."