Though I'm a White Rose and Bumblebee person through and through, there's just something about the Monochrome... Another sick fic, sorry about that.
Dedicated to kumafeels (Kuma) on tumblr!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
Caretaker
"Blake?"
Yang's concerned voice caught Weiss' and Ruby's attention as the two turned back to look at their teammate's bed.
It was ten minutes before classes were to begin, and the Faunus girl had awoken after the rest of them; this was odd, considering she was usually up at the break of day, despite her more nocturnal tendencies.
Yang had been the first to realize something was amiss with her partner, since she hadn't been woken up by Blake's call to her like she usually was. Naturally, she showed immediate concern for her partner after she still hadn't roused herself even as the rest of them were preparing to leave.
"Are you feeling okay?" The blonde stood a few feet from Blake's bed and looked down at her with a concerned gaze.
Blake blinked her eyes open slowly, her golden eyes duller, more enervated than they usually were.
"I'm alright," she rasped. "Just... a bit tired. Sorry, but I'll be skipping today. Do you think you could take notes for me?"
"Oh yeah, sure!" Yang replied instantly, giving a salute. "Leave it to me! Don't you worry 'bout a thing."
"Then please be sure to actually take notes this time, yes?" Weiss sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got this, princess~" Yang sang as she walked toward the door.
"Then perhaps you'd like to start by taking a notebook with you?"
Yang paused before sheepishly chuckling and reaching over to grab a notebook from the desk. Weiss let out a sigh as she turned to Blake.
"I'll make sure you get the notes. You just take it easy, alright?"
"Right." Blake lifted her head slightly to meet all of their gazes in turn. "Thank you, everyone."
"Don't mention it!" Ruby grinned. "We're your teammates so it's only natural we'd help you out in your time of need! Your job is to get better, okay?"
"Got it." Blake smiled a little as she returned to her pillow and closed her eyes.
Weiss felt a slight prickle of concern creep into her stomach, and when she looked to the sisters, it was evident the feeling was mutual. The heiress shook her head; there was no good in fretting about it. Right now all they could do was let their teammate rest.
"Come on then, you two." Weiss shooed them out of the room and into the hallway. "If either of you miss another class, you'll be looking at three hours of detention!"
She herded the other two down the hall as they groaned, sending silent prayers over her shoulder to the teammate they had left behind.
During lunch break, Weiss had scolded Yang for not getting all of the notes for Blake as she had promised.
"Fine. Just copy mine. But for heaven's sake, don't spill anything on them." She pushed her own notebook to the repenting blonde.
"Thank you Weeeisssss!" Yang wailed, trying to throw her arms around the heiress. Weiss flicked her forehead.
"None of that. Just get to writing." She then turned to her leader who was presently stuffing a cookie into her mouth. "Ruby, make sure your sister does this." Weiss ordered as she got to her feet.
"Aye, aye!" With the cookie halfway into her mouth, Ruby gave a salute that mirrored Yang's from earlier.
"Don't talk with your mouth full."
"Oh, right." Ruby quickly swallowed before quirking an eyebrow at her partner. "But where are you going, Weiss?"
"I'm going back to check on her." She declared. "And no you may not come along," she abruptly cut off Yang's plea. "First of all, you've got to take the notes for her like a responsible partner. Secondly, you two aren't allowed to be late to any more classes. And finally, if all of us went back there, it'd be far too rowdy for her to relax."
As she expertly finished listing her reasons, the blonde and brunette slumped their shoulders.
Ruby pouted. "I guess you're right..."
"You know I'm right."
"Okay, but-!" Yang groaned, also admitting Weiss' reasoning was valid. "Just make sure she's okay, alright?" Her lavender eyes were sparked with genuine concern, and Weiss' own gaze softened a bit; she understood Yang's frustrations right now, and appreciated them on Blake's behalf.
"I'll be certain to do so," Weiss agreed as she headed for the cafeteria's exit.
Ruby called after her. "If she's still not better, then call the nurse!"
"Yes!" Weiss waved her hand. "Now, notes!" she barked.
She heard Ruby's shout of "Aye, aye!" once more before she sauntered out of the cafeteria.
Only when she was certain she was out of sight did she pick up her pace and hastily scurry off toward the dorm rooms. Once she arrived, Weiss caught her breath as she pulled out her key before quietly opening the door.
"Blake?" Weiss peeked her head into the room. "Are you alright?" She tentatively stepped inside, peering into her teammate's bed.
Blake lay just as the three of them had left her that morning, still in her sleepwear with the blankets pulled halfway up her body. Weiss carefully closed the door behind her as she tip-toed inside. Blake's ears twitched once before she groggily opened her eyes, a small sound rising from her throat that made Weiss wince. She looked toward Weiss as the heiress approached, her head bowed guiltily.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
"Not at all." Blake propped herself up onto her elbows and looked the heiress over thoughtfully. Her cheeks were slightly pink and she was breathing a bit raggedly. "Did you... run all the way here?"
Weiss' expression was more than enough for Blake to receive her answer.
"W-What? Of course not! It's just very warm out there."
"Right." Blake offered a small chuckle. Weiss pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest briefly before she got back to the matter at hand.
"Never mind that. How are you feeling?"
Blake's ears flattened again, as though bringing the topic back up had reminded her of her ailments.
"I'll be alright," she shrugged.
Weiss wasn't buying.
"You keep saying that, but you should see yourself..." As she scrutinized her teammate further, Weiss truly took note of just how miserable she looked. Her cheeks that were normally so pale were even more so now, the soft black fur of her ears was ruffled, her long hair disheveled. Her unkempt appearance was such a drastic change from her usual cleanliness that it troubled Weiss. "Would you like me to take you to the infirmary? You truly don't seem well..."
"No, it's okay," Blake murmured almost too quickly. Weiss narrowed her eyes. "It's really not that bad Weiss. I'm just tired."
"Just tired wouldn't entail so much perspiration on your part." Weiss growled. The Faunus girl's pillow was also slightly damp. "Don't think you can weasel your way out of this with just tired. It's been clear from the second you woke up this morning that you were ill." She took a step forward toward Blake's bed but paused. "May I?"
Blake sighed and nodded, shifting over a bit to make room for the heiress to sit.
Weiss stared sternly down at her. "Yang and Ruby are easy enough to persuade at the beginning, but they'd have figured it out soon enough. Now why don't you tell me what's actually wrong?" She demanded.
Blake couldn't meet her intense gaze, which only served to worry Weiss further.
"Weiss, it's really not that bad, just- ah-!" Her face contorted in pain suddenly as her body instinctively curled in on itself.
"Blake?" Weiss' heart lurched in panic. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Blake bit her lip as a pang shot through her stomach, a wave of heat surging up to her face.
Weiss was on her feet immediately. "I'll fetch the nurse. Try not to move, okay?"
But before she could dash out of the room, she felt a slight tug on her sleeve.
"Weiss, wait..." Blake pleaded. The heiress turned back quickly.
"Blake, no. You need help, so just let me-"
"Weiss..." Blake's feeble voice cut her off. "It's okay. Please just... just stay here..."
"You-!" Weiss' voice hitched when she heard her teammate speak. She pursed her lips, biting down as she glimpsed Blake's pitiable eyes. It was like a form of torment for Weiss to have to decide between abiding by her teammate's wishes or acting in favor of her health. "Oh, fine!" Groaning internally, Weiss relented as she sat back down. Blake sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Weiss."
"Don't thank me! I haven't done anything," she growled, feeling useless. "At the very least I should be getting you some medicine..."
"All I need..." Blake's golden eyes flashed bashfully up to meet Weiss'. "Is someone here..." She slid closer to the heiress, her cheeks pink.
"You..." Weiss tried to glower down at the Faunus girl, but couldn't bring herself to do so. "You need a lot more than that..." she sighed.
However, the last thing she was going to do now was leave Blake, firstly because it directly contrasted the sick girl's wishes, and secondly because Weiss wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did.
Blake shook her head a little. "No, really. Just having someone here is more than enough..."
"...You idiot," Weiss muttered. "Then why did you tell us all to go to class this morning? You know one of us would have stayed behind with you!"
"...Well, Ruby and Yang can't miss any more classes... and I know how you feel about skipping..."
"Don't give me that!" Weiss snapped. "I would gladly stay here with you if that's what you wanted! But how am I to know how to help you if you don't tell me?"
Blake recoiled a bit into her blankets, and Weiss felt a wave of guilt wash over her; what was she doing, lecturing a sick teammate? She could do that after Blake was better.
"Either way, I'm here now," she stated. "And you look awfully hot..." She narrowed her eyes as she looked Blake over again. If anything, her condition had worsened since this morning, and it was clear she had hardly slept at all during the hours the rest of the team had been away. She was breathing rather harshly - panting even - and her ears trembled.
"Y-Yeah. I am... a little hot..." the Faunus girl admitted.
"I can see that much." Weiss reached to gently touch her companion's forehead. She was warm, warm enough to cause the heiress to frown deeply.
But Blake's furrowed eyebrows loosened a little at the contact, for Weiss' fingers were cool and soothing. The heiress noticed her reaction and slowly moved her hand up to Blake's ears, gently running her nails over the hot fur. Blake whimpered a little, but it wasn't a pained sound like before, instead it was more relaxed.
If this was what proved effective without leaving Blake's side, Weiss knew what she had to do.
She slipped out of her shoes and drew her legs onto the bed, curling them underneath her. She offered Blake her lap, and the Faunus girl looked incredulously up at her.
"Are... Are you sure?" she checked.
"If I wasn't, would I be offering?" Weiss snorted. "Of course I'm sure."
She reached out to gently help Blake sit up a little, supporting her shoulders as she shifted closer to Weiss. Blake carefully rested her head in the heiress' lap, lying down on her side horizontal to her companion; she didn't want Weiss seeing her baffled expression, so she turned her back to Weiss.
The heiress smiled a little to herself as she brushed her fingers over Blake's ears yet again, emitting a very slight amount of her aura to cool her off. It seemed to be working, as Blake's tense shoulders had relaxed a little.
Weiss reached out to place her other hand on Blake's side. She traced her fingers over the soft material of her pajamas, moving her palm in circular motions over her stomach. Weiss made sure to emit a very small amount of her aura, just enough to stop the other girl from sweating so badly.
Blake let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes, the knot that had previously been twisting in her stomach slowly uncurling under Weiss' touch. The discomfort that she had mulled through this morning by her lonesome no longer clawed at her heart, and Blake considered herself blessed. Weiss was almost like an angel who had come back to save her in her hour of need.
Weiss allowed the smile to remain on her lips since Blake couldn't see it. The Faunus girl was certainly more relaxed now, and her harsh panting had ceased. Weiss gave Blake's ears a ginger scratch before trailing her hand through those soft onyx tresses, rubbing her back gently.
Blake felt her conscious slipping away quickly, her brief sickness all but healed now. But before she could fall asleep, she mumbled to her teammate.
"Weiss... don't you have class...?"
Weiss gave Blake's ears another light scratch.
"Your point?" she asked. "I'm your caretaker. Don't think I'm leaving until you're one hundred percent again."
Blake smiled to herself, taking the heiress' words as a cue to get comfortable there on her lap. They all knew how adamant Weiss was about her academic performance, so for her to deliberately miss out on the lessons for Blake's sake...
"Thank you, Weiss..." She was touched to say the very least.
Weiss leaned back against the headboard of Blake's bed and sighed contentedly. She could care less about the lectures now if the result of her missing them was for her companion's benefit.
She continued to dust her fingertips over Blake's stomach until the girl's Faunus ears began to droop; before long, Blake's breathing slowed and softened.
Weiss saw no point in going to a class she was already late for now, therefore she stayed where she was and closed her eyes. She fully intended to wake before Ruby or Yang came back to taunt them.
But for now, she allowed herself to enjoy the silence in Blake's presence, and drifted off into a peaceful slumber alongside her.
A/N: I also have sort of a partner story to this called A Shoulder To Cry On, where Blake has to help Weiss!
Please review!