Freezerburn: Sweater Weather

I wrote this for a Secret Santa and was asked for Freezerburn or Bumblebee.

Happy holidays Chu.

RT owns RWBY.

Yang was taller than Weiss. She was also a fair bit heavier thanks to all the extra muscles and bone (Weiss was not implying Yang was fat. That would be very bad for her health). As such, it was incredibly unfair in Weiss's eyes that she was forced to drag Yang into their apartment, which was up several flights of stairs.

And of course, the elevator had been broken. In fact, it had been broken ever since Yang's uncle had come to visit.

"Oh hey, we're home," Yang mumbled as Weiss managed to unlock the door (she had been forced to cheat and used a Glyph to keep Yang upright while she fumbled for the keys). "Home sweet home!"

"For God's sake Yang, can you treat this with a degree of seriousness?" Yang was unceremoniously dumped on the couch as Weiss darted into the bedroom. The closet door was opened and flung aside as Weiss grabbed every spare blanket and duvet in there, alongside all the ones on the bed and some spare clothes to replace Yang's soggy ones. Weighed down with covers, sheets and blankets, Weiss made her way back into the main room, dumping them all on Yang. Before Yang was even done barking with indignancy, Weiss had the coffee machine on and was pouring scalding water into a hot water bottle that got tossed onto the pile of fabric, blanket and Yang.

By the time Weiss returned, Yang had freed herself from the pile, placing it beside her (she had at least changed to the dry clothes). Weiss's frown only deepened at that. "You're getting under those blankets Yang. It's your choice how willingly that occurs."

Yang rolled her eyes, but didn't resist as Weiss placed the hot water bottle against Yang's toned chest (down, girl) before sliding some blankets over Yang. She had enough freedom to slip her arms out and grasp the cocoa mug on the table, taking a few sips to pass the time as Weiss got comfortable beside her.

Weiss was in a relaxed pose, leaning against Yang as the TV got turned on to some Christmas movie they always played around this time of year. But Yang couldn't help but notice that Weiss was unnaturally tense.

"What's the problem?" Yang turned her head fully to Weiss. She didn't really get what Weiss was reacting to- it wasn't like she'd died or anything. She just got a bit wet at the lake, that was all.

Weiss had subconsciously become tense like a taut wire. Her fingers dug a little into Yang's arm as lilac eyes met ice-blue. "I'm just…" a soft exhale. "I got worried back there, but I pushed it away in the moment. Now it's settling back in and I feel like an anvil settled in my stomach. I'm sorry."

"For what? You've got nothing to be sorry about. But come on Weiss, all this?" Yang gestured at the pile of heat-providing products that had been dumped on her. "It's a little much, just saying." Yang made her point by letting her Semblance flare up, embers sparking in her hair and casting the room with an eccentric collection of light sources; the dying of the light outside as the sun set, tiny motes from a selection of Christmas lights that decorated the back wall, and now the tiny bursts of flame that spurted into place around Yang. "I definitely don't remember you complaining that I have the body temperature of a heater back at Beacon," she quipped with that trademarked Xiao-Long smirk.

"But it wasn't enough back there."

"The lake? Weiss, come on, that was nothing-"

"You nearly drowned, Yang!"

Yang thought it was a bit of an exaggeration to call it that. She'd been walking back home with Weiss through a park when Yang had spotted a cat that was stuck in the middle of the frozen lake. She'd darted out to grab it, but the ice had been thinner than expected and she fell through right after tossing the cat to its owner. Yang had always heard about people who fell into frozen lakes, about how hard it was to find the hole you left in the ice. She hadn't thought it would be so hard until she found herself in that situation, and she couldn't even blast her way out of the ice with her prosthetic since the mechanism had jammed with the cold. And what hadn't helped was how cold it was; she hadn't felt a cold like that since when Summer died.

Yang had been about to pass out when Weiss smashed half the ice on the lake into particles with aid of her Semblance. Soon after both Yang and the cat were resuscitated, though the EMT on-scene had said it was a close call. Then Weiss had gotten oddly quiet, and nearly dragged Yang back home as soon as she was able to walk in a straight line (oxygen deprivation did funny things to Yang's balance). But Yang had been fine once she woke up- she'd not even fallen unconscious really, things just got a bit blurry as she kept pounding at the ice. So what if it had gotten a little tense for a minute there, she was fine. No need to worry.

And yet Weiss was worrying regardless. So now Yang was worrying for her too.

"OK, yeah, it got a bit dicey there, but I knew you'd be there for me. I was sure you'd save me, Weiss."

"I wasn't," Weiss murmured. "I got worried that I wouldn't be able to make it. That water was so dark, and it was snuffing out your Semblance, so I couldn't see you." Weiss had pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, still pressed against Yang as close as she could manage. "And when it first happened, I just… froze up as you fell. It happened to Winter before, back when I was just seven or so. I felt so helpless then, and it happening all over again just… took me right back to that moment. Winter only survived because the shock from the water triggered her Aura. She made a glyph on pure instinct and flew back up from the ice. Still, we were so worried."

"And me falling in caused those memories to come back?" Yang winced internally.

Weiss nodded mutely.

"Well… I have an idea." Yang reached out to grab Weiss's hand, gently tugging it to Yang's heart. "You feel that?"

Weiss blinked, looking at Yang with a confused look. "What?"

"My pulse, you feel that?"

"Yang…"

"Weiss, humour me. I'm getting somewhere with this. Do. You feel. My heart?"

Weiss scoffed quietly, but rolled her eyes. "Yes Yang. I feel your pulse."

"Right, OK." Yang then moved Weiss's hand to her throat, while Yang took a few deep breaths. "Feel those too?"

"You mean your breathing? Yes Yang. Where are you going with this?"

"Have a little faith." Weiss's hand was brought this time up to Yang's mouth, where she kissed each finger and knuckle separately.

"Yes, I feel that," Weiss noted laconically as Yang finished, getting cut off slightly as Yang kissed her in full. "and that," she added as a whisper when Yang pulled back.

"You see Weiss? I'm fine. I'm alive, I'm breathing, I'm still super sappy. Nothing to worry about. I don't plan on going anywhere any time soon."

"Well you were right about the sappy part," Weiss mumbled as she tucked her head against Yang's chin. "not that I'm complaining. I'm sorry if I made you worry."

"You're not the one who fell into a lake over a cat." Yang nearly jolted out of her chair after saying that. "Wait, the cat! Is it OK?!"

"It's fine, the child's mother caught it. It should be fine."

"Oh, thank the gods." Yang settled back down. "No joke if you saved me over the cat I'd have been super pissed at you."

Weiss didn't even dignify that with a response, only staring flatly at Yang.

"OK, poor timing, I concede." Yang's hands shot up defensively. "Think I have a way to break the ice though."

Another flat stare.

"… OK, that one wasn't intentional I swear!" Yang got up and went to the door, rummaging through the things she had bought that day. Eventually she popped up with a wrapped package, a manic glint entering her eyes. "It's a little early, but what they hey, why not give you an early Christmas present?"

"I'm listening." Weiss said calmly. To her credit, she kept her face relatively calm despite the undercurrent of fear she tried to suppress in her voice. A well-justified fear, given how bad Yang's Christmas presents could be.

Yang passed the package to Weiss, who ran her hand along it. "Clothes, seems like… a jumper?"

"Stop guessing and open it!" Weiss relented, slicing open the wrapping with a fingernail to reveal, unsurprisingly, a jumper. Christmas-coloured with some gaudy writing on it. Weiss frowned at the writing.

"'Stop calling me Elsa?'" She looked up at Yang. "Is that a reference to something?"

"Eh, nothing too popular. I'll show you the film tomorrow. In the meantime, the cocoa's getting cold…"

Silently accepting the invitation, Weiss and Yang got back under the covers, Weiss curling up against her portable heater. "Yang?"

"Uh-huh?"

"You know I love you, right?"

Weiss hadn't really said the words before now, so Yang was caught off guard for a moment. "I… yeah. Love you too Weiss. Sorry for making you worry."

"It's fine." Weiss kissed Yang, hand cupping Yang's cheek as she deepened the kiss. "Happy Christmas Yang."

"Same, Ice Queen."

Happy holidays.