This fic is dedicated to amipiai on tumblr! Ami is an amazing artist who has drawn amazing illustrations for several of my RWBY fics that can be found at amipiai,tumblr,com/post/72347961823 and at /post/71553188589 (just use periods). They're phenomenal, and my only means of thanking her is to dedicate some of my works to her! Thank you, Ami!

A/N: This is a White Rose ship story so don't flame me if you don't like the couple~

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Proximity

Chapter 1. Painting Nails

"Ruby, sit still!"

"But I have an itch!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Where is it?"

"On my nose!"

Weiss quickly silenced her partner with a flick to the indicated spot.

"There. Now stop fussing and let me do this."

"Ugh, but it's so boriiing."

"Excuse me? Who was it who agreed to this idea in the first place?"

"...Me..." Ruby muttered.

"That's right. Now sit still and let me do this..."

They were in the bathroom at the moment, Weiss having pushed Ruby down to have a seat on the edge of the bathtub as the heiress fumbled with a bag of cosmetics at the sink.

Weiss was well aware of the fact that she had not always been the best teammate to Ruby. Quite frankly, her tart comments and tendency to shoot down Ruby's ideas as though they were lame birds had become almost a hobby for the heiress.

It had taken some time for Weiss to correct her attitude, but she recognized there was still much to be desired about hers and Ruby's relationship. No, not in that way... Weiss chided herself silently as she felt her heart kick things up a notch. We're not like that. We're just teammates. That's all...

She had remembered the sarcastic things she had hummed to Ruby the second time they had met. Ruby had offered her hand, requesting to spend some time together with Weiss in order to get to know her. Weiss had replayed the scene over in her mind many times and could recall precisely how she had replied: "Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Whatever urgings had possessed her to presently go along with her previously-bitter words, Weiss did not know.

All she knew was that right now she had Ruby sitting in front of her with red polish smeared all over her left hand.

Due to her insistent restlessness and total lack of self-control, Ruby succumbed to every little tick and twitch that came her way. She would unknowingly curl her fingers as Weiss was painting her accursed nails, causing her partner to misplace the brush. She would jerk back entirely, exaggeratedly enough to almost topple backward into the tub due to the slightest tickle. She even sneezed directly onto Weiss without warning once.

That had been the point when Weiss had just about smashed the bottle in her hands to the ground and stormed out; if not for the thought tacked to the back of her mind reminding her of how she was supposed to be Ruby's best teammate, she might have done just that.

But she had bitten her tongue, quite literally, to prevent from bursting out as Ruby apologized profusely, and Weiss had merely washed herself off before continuing the torturous procedure.

Even now, Ruby still continued to squirm and wiggle about like a rebellious child being prepped for a banquet.

"How much longer?" she asked.

"Well, perhaps if you would stop fidgeting about like Blake in the fish section of the grocery store, I could actually make contact with your nails instead of every other part of your body."

Somehow Ruby had managed to get red paint on her cheeks and forehead, but Weiss did not even bother wondering how anymore.

"But it tickles..." she whined.

"Like I said, this was something you eagerly agreed to." Even if I was just pulling your leg with the suggestion. "So stop complaining and let me do this," Weiss said as she finished Ruby's left hand at long last and straightened up to observe her work. "...I think it suits you," she declared with a small smirk.

"Really?"

"Of course." And she was not just saying that to encourage Ruby to be still as she went in for the right hand; Weiss truly did find that seeing her brazen leader with painted nails was quite charming.

"If... If you say so..."

Weiss' comment actually seemed to do the trick and clam Ruby up for a few minutes. This allowed for the heiress to reach down and take Ruby's right hand in her own, feeling the difference in their body temperatures as she did so. I'd expect nothing less from Yang's sister, Weiss thought absentmindedly as she began to paint over Ruby's thumb.

Ruby remembered to separate her fingers without Weiss telling her this time, and the painting of her right hand went significantly smoother and cleaner than that of the left. Perhaps, Weiss mused, it was because her leader had finally understood the meticulous work of the craft.

Or perhaps it was because Ruby was too fixated on Weiss' proximity that she did not dare to move.

She sat with her back straight, hovering backward over the bathtub almost far enough to fall over. Weiss was so close, leaning over Ruby's lap as she held her hand. She smelled of boundless oceans and snow-covered meadows, and even though the scent was so intoxicatingly wonderful, Ruby was finding it more difficult to breathe by the second.

Oh god! She's so close! Ruby was sure Weiss could feel the sweatiness of her palms, hear the turmoil within her ribcage, see the blood rushing to her face... No, she reminded herself. We're not like that. We're just teammates...

There was a bit of a sinking feeling in her chest as she reminded herself, and Ruby let out the breath she had been holding as Weiss momentarily looked away to dab more polish onto the small brush. The angle of her flawless face at that moment clearly showed the pink scar over her left eye. Ruby had never seen Weiss so closely before, and from where she sat now she could easily see the wrinkles of skin around the edges of the scar, her pale complexion forever stained pink with stitches of white that could never fully heal.

Ruby was overwhelmed with the urge to reach forward and brush her warm fingers over the wound. But more than anything, she needed to resist the urge to pull Weiss into a tight embrace and kiss her.

Ugh, no! she shouted to herself. Why do I keep thinking like this? It's not like that between us!

Well, even if it was that way for Ruby, she was certain that Weiss did not harbor reciprocating feelings.

Feeling a bit more disillusioned now, Ruby forced her conflicting emotions to die down as she waited for Weiss to finish.

"There." The heiress let out a satisfied sigh as she straightened up to admire her work of Ruby's right hand. She then took a cloth from the sink, wetted it, and returned to her leader. Weiss got down on one knee as she took Ruby's left hand and began cleaning off the excess paint from her skin.

Ruby was unable to stop her mind from exploding with imaginative scenes. Nah, Weiss would never be the one to propose, she mused in spite of herself. I'd make sure to knock her off her feet!

"Ruby!"

"Gaaah! Y-Yes?"

"I said you're all set."

"Huh? Oh..." Ruby pulled her gaze away from Weiss' as she stared down at her hands. She could never remember having her nails painted before, even if Yang had occasionally liked to make Ruby her plaything in the past. Yet Ruby could not deny that she rather enjoyed being fussed over by Weiss.

Her nails did look fairly appealing, she had to admit, much more so than she would have thought they would look. Weiss had a knack for neatness, and the attention she had put into painting Ruby's nails was visible in the strong color and shine of the layers.

Just then, the heiress' grumpy huff brought Ruby's attention back to her.

"Oh, honestly..."

"What is it?"

"Your hair."

"What about it?"

"You've got polish in it, you dunce!"

"Uhh..."

"You were fiddling with your hair while I wasn't looking, weren't you?"

Ruby said nothing.

"Honestly," Weiss mumbled again. She got to her feet and pulled Ruby up with her, dragging her unceremoniously over to the sink. "Now do not move. I'm serious this time."

Weiss dunked Ruby's head down slightly as she grabbed the cloth and ran it through her partner's hair in an attempt to clean out the stained strands.

"W-Weiss..." Ruby did not think she could handle having Weiss hover over her so closely. "I-I'm okay, really-"

"Save it," Weiss snapped. "Do you have any idea how much this could damage your hair? Not that it isn't already as messy as a nest of Rapier Wasps... Now stay still."

Weiss continued to run warm water through Ruby's hair, and the brunette shivered; however she was unsure of whether that was due to the water, or the fact that Weiss' hands were pressing onto her shoulders and it was making her stomach flip a little bit.

Before very long, the faucet was silenced as Weiss sought out a dry towel which she promptly draped onto her partner's head. She then ruffled the towel vigorously through Ruby's damp hair, causing her head to shake back and forth. The motion left Ruby dizzy when the heiress was finished.

"There. Maybe this will teach you to be more careful next time."

Next time... Ruby repeated to herself. She was not sure if she would be able to survive spending another session like this alone with Weiss, what with her beautiful face mere inches away from her own, the heiress' natural scent luring Ruby in by the second as if to bait and torment her of the prize she could never have...

She shook her head from side to side; even if it was just an unrequited crush, that was no reason not to enjoy her time together with Weiss to the fullest.

"Do you want me to paint your nails now?" Ruby offered, bouncing a little.

Weiss almost choked on her scoff.

"Are you serious?" She spoke in a manner not intending to be mean, but more amused than anything. "After that performance? Sorry, but I think I can handle myself."

"What if I ordered you as your leader to let me do it?" Ruby was only half-kidding.

"...You are such a child." Weiss sounded incredulous at Ruby's conceitedness. "Fine then. Do your worst." She sat down in Ruby's previous spot on the edge of the bathtub, crossing one leg over her knee as she held out her hands to Ruby.

To be honest, Ruby was taken aback that the heiress had consented.

"Ah... um... W-What color do you want?" she asked, quickly going through the bag Weiss had placed on the sink.

"Surprise me."

Ruby had to resist the urge to select red, the same color as her own. While Weiss' outfit did show peeks of the color, she felt it would not go well with her partner overall.

Considering how greatly she was lacking in the creative dress-up department, Ruby went with the unoriginal selection of light blue.

As she knelt down before Weiss and reached for her hand, Ruby realized that aside from tugging a brush through the mane of gold that Yang called her hair, she had never done anything quite like this with another female friend before.

She swallowed hard as she slipped her right hand beneath Weiss', feeling the cold chill of her skin. Past the pungent smell of the nail polish, Ruby could just barely detect the familiar scent of winter, and she smiled.

"What are you waiting for?" Weiss demanded. "Get on with it..." She turned her head to one side. Ruby liked to believe she saw a blush there, but assumed it was only her imagination.

She was unaware of the fact that she was precisely correct, as Weiss felt the warmth rushing to her cheeks and made sure Ruby would not get the satisfaction of seeing it.

She felt Ruby begin to apply the brush to her nails, and Weiss suppressed a shiver. It really did tickle.

All her life, Weiss had been pampered, majorly against her will, until it had just become clockwork. But the dehumanizing routine she had gone through on a daily basis back then was nothing like Ruby's treatment now. Her hands were clumsy and uncertain, but they were also very soft and warm.

Weiss felt a tightness in her chest as her heart pounded a little harder, but she ignored it. She was disgusted with herself for sinking to such a level when all Ruby had done was make contact with her hand.

As Ruby silently continued her work, Weiss realized just how focused she was, and casually tilted her head back to observe her hands. She almost gasped aloud with how impressed she was, as Ruby had not allowed a single drop to leek onto Weiss' skin. Her strokes of the brush were a bit wobbly at first, but gradually gained confidence.

Weiss watched her in silence, unaware of the smirk curling her lips as she watched Ruby who was so intently tending to her nails. She would reach back to the bottle to dab on some more polish without even taking her eyes away from Weiss' hands.

The heiress had to admit she was beginning to feel incredibly self-conscious now, but it was a great contrast to the hollowness she used to feel back when she was younger; back then, she was not allowed to fidget or even to speak. But now that she was in Ruby's care, Weiss was free to breathe easily, enough to smile.

At last, Ruby sat back onto the ground with an accomplished sigh.

"How do they look?"

Weiss lifted her hands before her face, her mist-blue eyes flicking over each colored portion.

"It's nothing professional..." she murmured. "But not bad, Red." The smile that comment earned from Ruby caused Weiss to smile briefly in return. She then got to her feet and offered Ruby her hand. "Come on, let's clean this up."

Ruby hesitated for a moment, appearing to have a troubling thought on her mind, but soon accepted her hand. Weiss pulled her up, and together they began cleaning up the bathroom, scrubbing off any nail polish that had strayed onto the porcelain. Once they had finished, the two girls ended up face to face, blinking at one another.

"So..." Ruby cleared her throat. "What now?"

"Oh, you don't think we're done yet, do you?"

"I-I don't-"

Weiss gave a small smirk. "Don't you remember? Painting our nails was only the first thing on the list, you know."

A/N: Sorry for such a short first chapter, but the last two will be a bit longer!

Please review!