POV: YANG XIAO LONG

Chapter 8 – Warmth and Heat

"Well, my work here is done. I will leave the interrogation up to Team JNPR! As for me, I am going to make sure Blake is alright." I quickly open the door and shimmy my way out. I'm happy for Ruby, but seeing those two all lovey-dovey makes me want to punch something. Not because my sister is being kissed by a girl two years older than her, okay, maybe a little, but that's not the full reason. I'm jealous of her.

Don't get me wrong, Weiss is nothing to be jealous over, but I have been making clear attempts to get the attention of my own crush. The time it has taken Ruby to realize she likes the Ice Queen, I have spent the same amount of time trying to get a certain person to come out with me on one night in the town, but she keeps thinking I am just trying to 'add her to my list' of people I've 'conquered.'

I sigh to myself, opening the door to Team RWBY's room with Blake's scroll, looking inside to see her seated on my bed, reading that smutty romance novel of hers. I close the door behind me and walk over to our bunk beds, dropping her scroll on her bed and looking at the bow-wearing cat girl.

She changed out of her uniform at some point while I was with Ruby, Weiss, and Team JNPR. She's back into her normal clothes – her black buttoned vest that has its last button just above her belly button before spreading apart. However, it keeps trailing down in the back, and unfortunately goes down to Blake's thigh. The unfortunate part of that being it is long enough to cover that cute ass of hers. Underneath her vest she is wearing her sleeveless white shirt, and on her left hand she has on a black fishnet glove I got her that goes up to her elbow. The glove being completely fingerless, and having a large hole to slip her thumb through. It's nothing combat effective, but I saw it in one of the shops while I was roaming Vale and thought she would like it. I get a happy feeling anytime she wears it – which is not often. I'm not sure if she doesn't wear it to torture me, or if she truly is not a huge fan of it, but either way it has gotten under my skin.

"So, Ruby and Weiss are now a couple. Your plan worked perfectly." I smile to Blake who doesn't even acknowledge me. I hate it when she does this. Always involved in her book and brushing me off. When will she get that I am not trying to get in her pants? I mean, I want to, very much, but she is the one person I actually want to go out with for more than a week, and no, I don't mean eight days when I say more than a week. I genuinely have a thing for Blake Belladonna. The bookworm girl with a mysterious disposition (damn Weiss for teaching me that word), has a love for the color black, and the best of all, she's a faunus with the cutest set of cat ears! I wish she wouldn't wear that bow. I love her ears. The few times she shows them it becomes a fight between her and I to let me rub one, even if it's for a few seconds.

"Was there ever any doubt that my plan wouldn't work?" I shake my head, snapping out of my thoughts of the long list of things I could say I like about Blake.

"You know what I mean, no need to be a hostile Kitty.", I counter, hopping up onto my bed with her. She is sitting with her back against the wall and her legs fully extended. For some reason she always is on my bed when she is reading. Must be a cat thing. When I climb up, I lay down on the opposite side of the bed, taking a look at the cover of her book, tracing patterns on it with my eyes.

"Not trying to lay on my lap today, Blondie?" She lowers her book just enough so I can see her sharp stare over the top of the book.

"Nope, you are probably mad at the catnap joke I made while you were pretending to sleep, and have it in your mind to stop me the moment I try." If there was one thing I could say I knew very well about Blake, it was her love of mind games and getting even. She is one spiteful girl, but I am not much different. I just use my fists instead of my head to get even.

"Kudos to you, Xiao Long. Normally I would, but you carried out my bidding the past two days to the letter, so my lap is your reward." She keeps her eyes on me the entire time she speaks, and keeps the stare for an extra second or two before going back to her book. As far as I can see she is not baiting me in, but I hate falling for one of her revenge pranks. I sit myself up and stay still, seeing if she is looking up at me, or if she shows any sign that I am inching towards a trap.

"Are you really being serious?", I ask her while I move to my hands and knees so I can crawl towards the side of my bed she's taken over.

"You know I don't like to talk while I am reading." he answers almost immediately. With an answer like that she could be mad about the catnap comment, or she just wants me to think she is mad and have me miss out on one of the legendary wonders of Remnant: Blake's lap pillow. I close my eyes and let out a defeated sigh. I continue to crawl towards Blake and lay down to her left, and on my side. I look up at her from around the corner of her book, then back at her thighs which are half-covered by her black stockings with an emblem of a white belladonna flower on each. I look back at her one more time, and finally lean down, placing my cheek on her closest thigh, letting out a happy sigh that she was not toying with me this time.

Well, let's see if I can push my luck

I say to myself. I slide my right arm underneath her thigh, then grab my right wrist with my left hand, locking the leg in my grip like I usually do to my pillow when it is not fluffed up enough. She doesn't say a thing about it, but a slight tense of her leg lets me know to loosen my grip just slightly.

"Took you long enough." she says to me in her usual monotone.

"Well, it's not like you to give me your lap out of the blue", I counter, nuzzling my cheek against the stocking, my ear running along part of her pale flesh, which is pretty cold for some reason.

Why is her leg so cold? Ugh, don't tell me . . .

"Blakey? Put the book down for a moment? Please?" I do my best to ask with my sweetest tone. I inch my head up in her lap to peek at her face underneath the book. When she looked at me earlier she made a point to not allow me to see underneath her eyes, but as I look at them now, I can see the eye bags and clear look of fatigue. She hasn't slept at all, having this recurring dream involving Roman Torchwick, some guy that Ruby dealt with at a dust shop, and later was dealt with by Blake and Sun in a shipyard after trailing some White Fang operation.

"If this is about me not sleeping, I rather not hear it, Yang." Blake's calm voice takes a hostile change towards me. I don't like it when she is mad at me, but I need to talk to her about this.

"What is this dream about Torchwick that keeps you from sleeping? You can tell me. I'm here for you, y'know."

"It's none of your concern, Yang. I am perfectly fine."

"It is my concern, Blake! You're my partner, and I worry about you. You were on the roof again weren't you? You always go there when you can't sleep, and you refuse to put on anything warmer. You're sleep-deprived, and you're going to get pneumonia if you keep this up!" I sit up and snatch away Blake's book. I look around and find her bookmark near her side, dropping it into the page she is at. I then toss it below my bed and onto hers. I then turn my attention to the tired cat faunus, crawling and then kneeling in front of her.

"Can I have my book back?" She seriously has the guts to ask me that!?

"Not until you sleep. I'm not going to sit here and let you slowly kill yourself. Especially not before I get to take you to the dance! Don't you dare forget about our deal!" I stare her down with anger in my eyes. My now red eyes meeting her amber glare.

"And why should I go through with it!? You've always been after one thing when you find someone you want to 'date'. I'm not another one of your playthings, Yang! . . . I'm not going to let my partner hurt me again." She has no idea how deep that cut into me. I don't want her to be a one night stand. I don't want to hurt her. I want to be there for her, and I WILL . . . if she just gives me a chance.

"I'm not trying to make you a plaything, damnit!" I scream, my aura flaring out. I pull my right arm back and swing my body towards Blake, burying my forehead into her shoulder while my fist goes through the wall right next to her. I begin taking slow deep breaths, trying to calm myself down before I end up burning my bed. "If you don't want to go with me, fine . . . at least go with Sun and get some sort of enjoyment out of it." I wait a moment before carefully pulling my arm out of the wall. It's a small enough hole that I can just lay my pillow there to hide it, at least until I find a way to fix it. I lift my head from Blake's shoulder and begin turning away. She hasn't said a word, and I can't meet the death stare she is most likely giving me. Before I can turn away fully I feel a firm grip on my wrist, and another grip on my opposite shoulder, turning me back to face her. I keep my gaze low, then turn my head to look up at her. Her amber eyes not staring at me from hate, but something else. Blake's gaze is weak, and reminds me of a kitten almost – no pun intended this time.

"Blake, I-"

I don't even get to begin my sentence. Something swipes by my face, and leaves a burning sensation on my cheek. I look away from Blake's face to see her arm across her body, and her hand wide open. She slapped me.

"I didn't think blondes were stupid, but with all that blonde hair you are a downright MORON. If I wanted to go with Sun I would have already had a date. He's stopped by a few times already, and I said no to him each time. I offered to go with you out of my own will. Since when do I go with you anywhere against my own will? Are you seriously that stupid!?"

I don't even care that she is screaming at me. She admitted something just now that could not make me any happier. She wants to go to the dance with me. Blake Belladonna wants to go to the dance with me! With Yang Xiao Long!

"Of all the inconsiderate, numbskull things you could say, that is the absolute worst!" She hits me on my shoulder as she continues to rant. Two, four, eight hits and she is still screaming at me, but I have an ear to ear smile on my face.

Blake Belladonna wants to go to the dance with me. That is all that is on my mind right now.

Blake's gaze eventually softens. She's been hitting me a lot, wasting energy and tiring herself out. I can see it all over her face. I catch one of her hands when she tries to hit me again, then the other seconds later. She keeps trying to pull her hands away, but she should know that I never let go when I have something I want.

Those amber eyes. Those beautiful, glistening, amber eyes look to me. I've never seen Blake with such a harmless look on her face. I want to remember her like this forever.

"You're going to get yourself a healthy night of sleep, Blake. One way or another." My mind is made up, and she knows I won't be giving her a break. I climb down from my bed, pulling her down with me and then sit myself on hers.

"Yang, what are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything. I'm just going to sit here, and make sure you sleep."

"I don't need a babysitter to sleep."

"But I'm a walking heater. Give it a shot. Anytime Ruby couldn't sleep I'd lay her head in my lap and just flare my aura." I smile at Blake, pulling her onto her bed. I decide to sit myself against the wall like she was earlier, making us have a complete role switch.

"This doesn't mean I want to date you." She quickly says while she rests her head on my lap. I make sure to not push my luck and keep my hands away from her bow, instead resting my hand on her shoulder.

"You don't need to date me to get a portable super heater, or for me to take you to the dance." My politest way of telling her to shut up and relax. She looks away from me and stares somewhere across the room, starting to lose herself in thought.

"Just relax and go to sleep, Kitty Cat." I whisper and smash my knuckles together, a bright orange glow resonating from my body. Slight distortions appear in the air around me from the body heat I start to let off. Within a minute I can see Blake cracking a smile and curl herself up into a more comfortable position.

"It's warm . . ." Blake murmurs before she becomes deadweight on my lap and drift into a hopefully nice slumber.

I look around for something to distract me from falling asleep myself, and spot Blake's book within arm's reach.

I wonder what all the fuss is about with that book.

I reach out and grab it looking at the cover and shake my head, as I am able to look at the cover clearly for the first time.

Ninjas of Love . . . I guess I'll just read from her bookmark.

I open the book and hold the bookmark where it is to make sure I do not lose Blake's page. She would kill me if I did. The book quickly gets me entertained, within the next 10 pages begins the start to a steamy and spicy scene of pure, uncensored intimacy between a rogue ninja and a geisha he just saved from a samurai compound. I begin to fidget and blush at the excess of detail to the scene, my aura calming down now that Blake is asleep, but still resonating enough heat to keep my body hot, and the area around the bed nice and warm.

I didn't even notice Ruby was at the doorway until I felt the slight breeze from the door being opened. "Hey you two. Be quiet, Kitty Cat's sleeping.", I say casually as Weiss slips in behind Ruby, still entranced by the book. I'm not worried about Blake waking up. With how exhausted she is, I am sure she could sleep through a Boarbatusk stampede. I just want some quiet so I can keep reading this sexy slice of erotica. I can hear Ruby say something but I just nod to whatever it is. I don't want to tear my eyes away.

Oooo, he's about to go inside her! I begin to get riled up as the steamy book begins to reflect in my body temperature. No wonder Blake likes these books.

"Y-Yang? Why are you-?" Damnit Ruby! You're breaking my thoughts!

"Shhhhhh it's just getting good!"