*reposting because I'm an idjit and screwed up the chapter title*

Hey guys! This is a quick little test snippet of a moment I'm wanting to add later in my fanfic Roses in the Snow. I just wanted to post this here to get some input on the dynamic between the two in the moment. For context: Last night Ruby woke up from a night terror about her mom's death (something that will have happened prior to this moment), and instead of waking Yang to comfort Ruby (which is what happened before, Yang climbed into bed with Ruby and told her stories until she calmed down and fell back to sleep), Weiss decided to take care of Ruby herself. That's about it. They are not in a relationship in this moment and have not had any romantic feelings for each other yet, they've just grown very, very close as partners and friends. That's mostly what I'd like some input on-whether or not what they're doing and saying feels right for a pair that are "just" friends (they're still way closer to each other than a normal friendship). Thanks for any input you have to offer!

Weiss woke with a cold anger when her scroll alarm pulled her from her pleasant dream.

She also felt off and confused. There was a heavy weight on top of her that was restricting how deeply she could breathe and the sound of the alarm was coming from below her for some reason.

Blurry eyed, she slowly blinked herself awake to find her vision filled with… was that hair?

Memories of last night came rushing back to her-Ruby crying, Weiss climbing up to her bunk, holding and comforting her, eventually singing the girl to sleep. Ruby was the weight on top of Weiss, her body lying heavily on her, arms wrapped around Weiss' torso with their legs tangled together. Her face was pressed into the crook of Weiss' neck, her light breaths tickling Weiss' collarbone in a steady rhythm.

That damn alarm was still ringing. If it kept going it would wake Ruby up, and Weiss didn't want that.

Glancing over the side of the bed, Weiss spotted her scroll on the bookshelf where she'd left it last night. No way she could reach it without disturbing Ruby…

She summoned a glyph underneath her scroll and launched it straight up in the air while her hand snaked out to grab it. If she missed there was a very good chance her scroll would break, but the alternative of waking Ruby up seemed far worse.

Luckily, she didn't miss. With a flick and a tap she ended the alarm, sighing as she tossed the offending tech onto the covers beside her.

"Mmmmweiss?" Ruby mumbled sleepily.

'Damn it.'

Her partner unwrapped one of her arms from around Weiss to rub her eyes. "Are you goin' ferrrr a run?" she slurred.

Ruby pushed herself up a little bit, alleviating some of the weight on Weiss' chest, but also taking away the warmth that Weiss hadn't even realized she'd been enjoying until it was now gone. Hesitant silver eyes met hers, and Weiss gave her partner a warm smile.

"It's okay. I can stay… if you want me to." The last phrase she whispered so quietly she was worried Ruby hadn't heard her.

The worry was unnecessary, as Ruby beamed at her and nuzzled her nose back into Weiss' collarbone. "Of course I want you to!"

It was impossible not to smile at the brunette's eagerness for Weiss' presence. The way Ruby seemed to have an unending desire for her company still baffled Weiss, but she appreciated it so much.

They laid there in silence for several minutes, both relaxing, their breathing slowing in sync to the point Weiss suspected Ruby had fallen back to sleep until the girl let out a happy little coo. Weiss giggled at the noise.

"What's that mean, Cookie Monster?"

Ruby let out a giggle of her own, lifting her nose a bit and burrowing it into Weiss' neck under her ear. "I can't decide what I like more: cuddles with my sister or cuddles with my best friend."

Weiss' heart gave a happy little thump at the words. Best friend. She was Ruby Rose's best friend. Ruby, who was so happy and affable and pure that she could have made friends with pretty much anyone in the world, had chosen Weiss as her best friend. That annoying voice of logic in the back of her mind reminded Weiss that Ruby hadn't really chosen her so much as randomly chanced to walk into her and become her partner, but Weiss tried her best to ignore that. She could either be grateful for Ruby or grateful for her luck, and she didn't believe in luck. Plus, she loved being grateful for Ruby. It made her heart swell with a warmth she'd never felt before.

"I definitely prefer cuddles with my best friend," she whispered shyly to the girl wrapped around her.

Ruby chuckled. "You prefer it to cuddles with Yang? Or to cuddles with your sister?"

Pursing her lips, Weiss frowned. "Well, I guess I don't really know. I've never cuddled with either of them."

Ruby's head raised as she looked down at Weiss in shock. Weiss pouted a little bit, miffed that Ruby's softness and warmth had been taken away.

"You never cuddled with your sister?!" Ruby's wide eyes expressed so much confusion-and an almost horror-that Weiss' pout instantly turned into an amused smile.

"I've never cuddled anyone, Ruby," she admitted.

She immediately regretted the admission as Ruby's eyes went from surprised to sad in a heartbeat. "Weiss!"

Unable to maintain eye contact with Ruby's sad gaze-she always felt guilty whenever she made Ruby sad-Weiss turned and decided to look around the room. There was a long silence as Weiss tried to avoid the emotions that were bubbling up in her and Ruby tried to process this new information. Weiss was sure the idea of never having cuddled before was such a foreign concept to Ruby (who'd apparently spent her entire childhood cuddling with Yang) that the girl probably was unable to wrap her head around the idea.

Weiss dreaded the questions that were coming. Don't you love your sister? Don't your parents love you? What about your little brother? How could you have never had cuddles with your family?

They would be difficult questions to answer-not because Weiss didn't know how to answer them, but rather because Ruby just wouldn't understand the answers.

But the questions never came. Instead, Ruby collapsed back on top of Weiss and gave her a forceful squeeze that prompted a surprised "oof!" from the heiress. "Then I guess I'll just have to give you cuddles every day to make up for what you've missed!" Ruby declared cheerily.

Weiss let out a light groan. While this moment felt nice, it was a little uncomfortable to have a person's entire body weight on top of her, and Ruby's bony knees and elbows digging into her also weren't ideal. She would never, ever tell Ruby that, though. If Ruby thought she was making Weiss even the slightest bit uncomfortable she would never risk cuddling again, and Weiss for some reason found that far more unacceptable to the prospect of cuddles every day.

Another wave of gratitude washed over her, though, as Ruby decided not to ask the questions Weiss was so scared of. Ruby knew Weiss didn't like to talk about her dysfunctional family and had opted to try to comfort Weiss and cheer her up instead of getting answers.

Ruby giggled at Weiss' groan, likely writing it off as Weiss being intentionally difficult because that was her "thing." The idea that anyone wouldn't just absolutely love cuddles all the time probably hadn't even occurred to her.

"Okay," she placated, "maybe not every day, but you still have lots of catching up to do."

Weiss smiled, wrapping her arms around her partner and giving the girl a gentle squeeze. "That sounds fair," she whispered. "Thanks for taking the bullet," she teased with a grin.

When her joke made Ruby giggle, Weiss' heart was injected with that now familiar yet still strange shot of pride and satisfaction. "My pleasure!" Ruby chirped. "Always at your service, Your Majesty!" Ruby let out a happy sigh. "I just want you to be happy, Weiss. You deserve to be happy."

'No I don't.' Weiss thought to herself.

She was a racist, elitist, homophobic jerk. Arrogant, impatient, cruel. Nothing about her was good, nothing about her deserved any amount of the incredible amounts of happiness that now permeated her life, all courtesy of the wonderful brunette currently snuggled in her arms.

There was no reason to say this out loud, though. Ruby would disagree immediately and begin listing off all the positive traits she bent over backwards to find in her partner. She'd tell Weiss she was beautiful, smart, generous, kind. All things that were either the result of the circumstances of her birth and upbringing or a result of Ruby's amazing influence. Weiss couldn't claim responsibility for any of the good things about her that Ruby insisted on seeing above all else, and Ruby would simply refute any attempts to argue otherwise. She probably wouldn't even give a reason, she'd just say "nope!" with a contagious smile like that decided the argument.

And the worst part was that Weiss would believe her. It was impossible to not believe Ruby when she expressed such unbridled faith and admiration in her, regardless of how illogical it was. And Weiss couldn't allow herself to share Ruby's positive views of her personality. She hadn't earned that right. Not yet. Not when she still had so much to make up for.

So she stayed silent, hugging Ruby a little tighter and hoping it expressed her gratitude and affection for her partner that she couldn't express with words.

From Ruby's happy little hum, she figured it worked.

Please leave reviews and let me know what you think!