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Author's Notes:
This is my first attempt at writing. I've always enjoyed reading though, so I think it might not be that terrible. (n_n); Still, reviews and helpful critique are very appreciated!
English isn't my mother tongue, so if you notice any mistakes, that really disturb the reading experience of the story, feel free to point them out. Otherwise, don't be a nitpicker. Everyone makes mistakes, even the most aryan grammar nazi.
"Lullaby" is a bit AU, cause I'm still bleeding too much from the final Volume 3 episodes to write a fluff compliant with them. (T_T) You'll see what I mean once you read the story.
I actually have an idea for a multi-chapter RWBY fic in mind. Main genres would be action and drama, main pairings [Bumblebee] and possibly [White Rose]. I plan for this story to contain a female OC on the side of the heroes though. That's why I'll soon post a one shot featuring her in order to give the readers a first impression and see what they think about her. So if you're not against all OCs in general and you'd like to read more from me in the future, just sub to me or simply have an eye on my profile to check out that one shot. It'll be called "The Art Of Adaption," a piece centered on Yang's recovery and how she gets a few pushes in the right direction from a new friend she meets on Patch.
Now, with all that said: Thanks for your attention and enjoy this little [Bumblebee] piece!
...
Lullaby
...
She turned on her left.
Nope.
She turned on her right.
Nope.
She turned on her back.
Still nope.
Yang sighed heavily, at this point not even caring anymore, if all the noise she was making woke up her teammates. She fished out her scroll from under her pillow to check the time and groaned when she saw the digital numbers on the holographic screen reading 01:26. The blonde had been tossing and turning in her bunk for literal hours now, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get some shut-eye already. What's worse was that she actually was tired. Team RWBY had just returned from a short grimm extermination mission this evening. Just some Beowolves, Ursi and Boarbatusks having gotten a bit too close for comfort to a nearby farmer village, so the people living there had asked Beacon to take care of it. Since the girls were in their second year now, they were allowed to take missions like this without a teacher accompanying them, so Ruby had all but jumped on the chance without meeting much resistance from her teammates. It had been easy enough at first. Really, with everything the girls had gone through in their first year, this had been a piece of cake. Well, until a rather big and annoyingly tough Deathstalker had crawled out of its hidey-hole to crash the party, that is.
Now, Yang Xiao Long wasn't exactly made of glass either. She'd once been punched through a solid concrete pillar by a huge robot only to get back up, dust herself off and proceed to utterly wreck the thing. But being trapped in the pincer of a giant scorpion, which squeezed her so tightly she couldn't move a muscle and barely even breathe for three minutes? That had been a whole different story. For the first time in her fighting history, the tough brawler had experienced what it felt like to be rendered helpless and to have to fully rely on others to save her from impending defeat...or worse. Actually, the blonde was certain "worse" was what would've happened. She'd been reminded of how fear felt like in these moments and frankly, she could've done without the experience. Even after she'd finally been freed from the monster's vice grip by her furious partner, Yang had continued to take some hard hits in the ensuing battle. It luckily hadn't been anything her aura couldn't handle in the end, but it had surely been enough to make her ache all over and collapse into her bed the moment they had finally arrived back in their dorm room after a quick visit to Beacon's infirmary.
Her body was so tired, the buxom brawler had chosen sleep over dinner and a shower, both of which she desperately needed. The unusual choice had her entire team worried, seeing how the blonde's rejuvenating ritual after a rough battle usually started with eating the poor chefs at Beacon's canteen out of house and home before taking a long (read as looooooong) shower and finally forcing her partner to switch beds for the night, since she'd usually be too lazy to climb up to her own bunk and would just choose to ungracefully flop down on Blake's instead. But this time had been entirely different. With her last drops of energy, Yang had all but stumbled out of her clothes and hadn't even bothered to change into her pajamas. Instead, she'd somehow managed to crawl up into her bed dressed in nothing but her underwear. The moment her head had hit her pillow, her eyes had shut and her breathing had gotten deeper and slower almost immediately – clear signs of her body appreciating the idea of resting. However, her mind had apparently decided, that now was a great time to play a nice round of Sleep? Who needs sleep? and refused to just switch off that easily.
No matter how many times Yang tried to close her eyes, they'd just snap back open seconds later, her heart skipping a beat in relief every time she was able to see her surroundings again. Her body trapped in the grimm's grip. Her aura barely managing to protect her from getting crushed. Her lungs burning as not even nearly enough air filled and way too much left them and her head beginning to feel dizzy as she heard the panicked voice of her dear little sister scream her name from what sounded like miles away. The beast's grip getting even tighter. Every single one of her muscles screaming in pain. The feeling of her heart hammering fearfully inside her chest. Her vision blurring as unconsciousness slowly crept up on her. It was all still there, too fresh and way too real to be forgotten so easily. Residue adrenaline still flowed through the blonde's veins as she realized over and over again just how fucking close she'd gotten to biting it today. However, it was all over now. She was still alive and well, the grimm was dead and the rest of her team was fine, too. Her mind was quite literally freaking out over nothing and Yang hated every second of it. The blonde inwardly released a scream of frustration, turned on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow as she tried to just block out the memories, reasoning with herself, that the ordeal was long over and that she seriously needed to rest up. From the other side of the room, the sound of Ruby's cute snoring and Weiss' quiet, relaxed breathing sneaked into her currently overly sensitive ears. She growled quietly. Lucky bastards.
Minutes, that felt like hours passed until she checked the time again: 01:43. Another quiet groan snuck its way past her lips before Yang tried turning on her right once more, squeezed her eyes shut and gathered all her remaining willpower in yet another attempt to keep them closed this time. When a few of the voices inside her head finally shut up, she got a feeling it might actually work... until she heard a familiar voice outside her head quietly whisper her name. Grudgingly, almost angrily even, lilac orbs opened to be instantly greeted by a pair of softly glowing, golden-hued ones staring right back at them. It had caught her off guard when she'd seen it first back then, when they'd still been in their first year. But soothing words from her partner as well as logic (if Blake's eyes wouldn't be able to reflect what little light the night provided, how else could she see so well in the dark?) had quickly managed to calm Yang down. By now, the soft whitish-yellow glow of the faunus' eyes at night was something the blonde brawler had gotten used to seeing. She appreciated the sight, actually. It was one of the many things about her still secretly-much-more-than-a-friend she found beautiful.
"What's wrong?" Blake decided to skip asking if Yang was okay, since she already knew the answer to that question thanks to her ever attentive ears, and cut right to the chase instead.
The faunus' voice was concerned and gentle and even though it was only a whisper, Yang could hear that unmasked edge of sincerity in it, that always managed to immediately earn her trust and made her want to open up and share what was going on. However, she seriously was dead tired and all she really wanted was to sleep already, so talking would have to wait until morning...well, or noon, considering how late it already was.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," said the blonde in a barely audible whisper, knowing Blake's keen hearing would be able to pick it up anyways. "Just can't sleep, is all."
She flashed one of her signature lazy grins to reassure her partner and hopefully get her to drop the issue, but Blake Belladonna wouldn't be Blake Belladonna, if she'd just take a half-cooked bait like that and be happy with it. Now, Yang's night vision was nothing compared to that of her onyx-haired teammate, but she would've had to be completely blind to miss the scowl and raised eyebrow immediately taking over the faunus' face. The swordswoman's penetrating stare proved to be as effective as ever and so, albeit not without taking a deep, heavy breath to show how unwelcome Blake's silent prodding was, Yang relented. She turned on her back and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the words to come at their own pace.
"I...I just can't get that Deathstalker outta my head, y'know" she finally confessed timidly, all of a sudden sounding nothing like the cocky, easy-going wannabe comedian she usually was. "It's stupid, but..."
...Silence. Apparently, this was all Yang managed to get out. Something about talking about the topic made her heart constrict almost painfully inside her chest and more pain was really the last thing she needed right now.
"I'll be okay, Blake. Really," she turned her exhausted gaze toward her partner and attempted to reassure the raven-head again, this time not even bothering to try and fake another smile. "Just go back to sleep."
And back to sleep she went, just not in her own bed. Much to Yang's unvoiced surprise, Blake silently regarded her for a few more moments before she nimbly and impressively quietly climbed up into the blonde's bunk and lay down next to her.
"What are you-" The rest of the question died in the brawler's throat the moment she felt Blake's familiar, soft and warm hand lazily settle on that sensitive spot right below her bosom.
"Sshh. Relax," the faunus cooed as she slowly shuffled closer to the person she had decided to entrust her heart to just a few weeks ago. "I get it, Yang. It's okay."
And so the silence returned, this time completely lacking the tension, that had laced it before. Almost on its own accord, Blake's thumb began to gently caress the spot of skin it rested on, the sweet action igniting a flame in Yang's chest, that quickly spread through her whole body and made her feel pleasantly warm. The faunus shuffled closer still and rested her head on Yang's collarbone, causing her facial expression to relax into a content smile. In no time at all, memories of a giant beast gripping her in its huge pincer were replaced one by one with recollections of all the times Blake had been by her side. The pair stayed just like this until finally, finally, Yang's mind had run out of arguments to keep her awake and allowed the exhaustion to fully sink in. Safe and perfectly comfortable with her favorite person right next to her, she allowed a huge yawn to leave her system as her entire form seemed to slump and sink into the mattress just a little more.
It was only when she eventually felt the slow and steady rise and fall of her beloved's chest, that Blake decided to cease her simple, yet evidentially effective ministrations and followed the blonde into the realm of dreams.
Fin
Author's Notes:
Hope you enjoyed this! Don't forget to leave a review on your way out, please! Oh yeah, and once again: keep an eye on my profile for that one shot if you're interested. :) And check out my forum, too!
Thanks for reading!
- Bullfish