Chapter One
-X- -X-
Yang sighed for the umpteenth time, examining her brand spankin' new prosthetic with a dull, disinterested stare. Ever since losing the original arm she simply hadn't been able to drudge up the energy for anything and receiving the replacement limb just… Didn't cut it.
The door to her room slowly drifted open and her eyes lifted from the metallic limb to the doorway. "Hey Yang, how you… Doing?" Ruby slowed to a halt, looking at the finely crafted metal with an intent gaze. "I-Is that… Is that the Atlas RXL A-17 Mk. 3?" She stuttered.
Yang looked between the redhead and the plain white arm, shrugging nonchalantly. "I guess." She answered reluctantly. "Dad said it was a personal favour so if that's new then probably. What's up Ru-"
A spiral of petals cut across her and she flinched as she felt a sudden impact slam into her, dark memories momentarily disrupted as lithe fingers curled around the replacement, dragging her up before she could react. "Oh my god it's a new model." Ruby froze, silver eyes wide as they drifted up to her face and then down to the masterpiece crafted in place of her limb. "Yang, look at the craftsmanship, the sleek design, the integrated adaptational bearings, the fine titanium-aura-conducting polymer, the-the-"
"Yeah, it's great." She huffed bitterly, pulling the arm roughly out of her sister's grasp and suppressing the guilt she felt at her betrayed expression. "Sorry, I-"
"Please don't take this away from me!" Ruby pleaded, grabbing at the arm again and pulling it against her chest. "I need it!"
"I- You- It's my arm!" Yang spluttered, a glimmer of amusement welling up despite her best efforts. "Seriously Ruby?"
"Yang, I was wrong okay? I was so, so wrong!" She cried, shoulders shaking and Yang frowned, gaze dulling as she looked away. "It's not an Atlas RXL A-17 Mk.3; it's an Atlas RXL A-series Mk. 4! Personally crafted too, I can tell!"
Yang's eyes shot back up, her face going slack as she tried to think of what to say in response. "Seriously?" She finally voiced.
Ruby nodded rapidly, head blurring with the motion as her grip tightened. "Seriously!"
"That's not what I-" Yang cut herself off, reaching up her free remaining hand to her forehead and brushing back errant blonde locks. "It's not even a real arm, Ruby. It's just a hunk of junk like Ember Celica or Crescent Rose."
"How dare you!" Ruby hissed and too late did Yang remember that badmouthing her sister's weapon was quite possibly the worst thing anyone could do around her. "I-I'm going to forgive you just this once." With a deep breath the smaller girl suppressed her righteous indignation, brow twitching with the effort. "But only because you're not in your right mind."
"I-" "After all, you just got an Atlas RXL Mk. 4!" The reaper cut across her, playing with the fine fingers of the model as though it was a toy. "…Right." Giving up on the girl possibly making sense, Yang huffed and decided to just let the other girl do as she pleased. "Just… Be gentle."
Ruby glanced up, fervent gaze softening slightly at her disinterested stare. "Okay."
As Ruby began to fiddle with the different pieces composing the arm Yang took to staring out the window, focusing on a pair of birds in the tree near her room nestling high in the branches. "I wonder what uncle Qrow's up to right now?" She pondered idly.
"Nnf, who… Knows." Ruby gasped.
Reluctantly Yang found her attention drifting to the older Huntsman, vaguely wondering if he'd been at Beacon. Had he been among all the Huntsman killing the oncoming Grimm, or maybe one of those escorting the civilians away?
"Oooh mama, that's the stuff."
Crimson locks brushed her cheek and her nose crinkled as she tried to ignore the decidedly less-than-innocent noises resounding beside her. "You and your wea- What are you doing!?" Yang yelped, amethyst eyes widening in alarm.
Pale cheeks flushed a vibrant pink as Ruby released a shaky breath, resting her head on her sister's bare shoulder. "W-What?" She squeaked out, gyrating even as she spoke.
"That! You- You- Stop that, stop that right now!" She hissed, shaking her new arm and cringing as she felt the other girl cling to it.
Ruby pouted, bringing her arms to her sister's neck and clinging tight. "But you said it was fine." She whined, hips arching against the sleek metal appendage.
"I sai- I did not! S-Stop it!" She shook as she felt soft hands brush against the back of her neck and both hands twitched, unsure where to go. To her horror she felt resistance around the fingers of her metal hand and as she glanced down- Oh, okay. That… That explained that. "R-Ruby, get off my hand!"
"I'm trying~" The redhead moaned.
Her brow shot up towards her forehead, neck cracking as she shook her head in zealous denial. "That's not what I meant!" She hissed, tensing as she fell back against her sheets in panic, whining as the other girl's lithe form followed her. "Ruby, no!" She half-cried half-sobbed, image of her little sister's innocence firmly in tatters.
"Ruby, Yes!" Ruby gasped, grounding her hips once, twice, again and again, against the synthetic appendage. "Oh yes, yes, yeeeeees!" A sudden shaky sigh and she jolted, back arcing as her gaze shot skyward. "Ooooooooh."
With a sound somewhat similar to a tire letting out air the girl began to sink forward, curling her head against the blonde's collar and cooing against her bare skin.
For once her ongoing depression was thwarted, sadness abated by shock and disgust as she stared down at her sister's supine form. "What the hell?" She whispered.
"Mmn." Ruby retorted, lashes fluttering as she drifted off.
Yang watched her, grimacing as the girl's face settled into a peaceful rest. On the one hand she wanted to shove her off and scream, but on the other hand- Well, she was on the other hand, actually, but on the metaphorical other hand…
She wasn't disgusted by Ruby; she was disgusted by herself. Disgusted because despite her vocal recriminations, deep down, some part of her, a part that she honestly could have gone without knowing about, actually… Kinda Liked it, liked seeing her face as she did something like that, liked as she shook and shuddered against her.
Some part of her liked that a lot.
-X- -X-
"Come on firecracker, you've got to lean into the punches." Yang tried to follow her dad's advice, really she did, but… Ruby was staring.
Intense silver eyes twitched as she threw another punch and she cringed as she tried to shift the arm out of view, failing both to hide the prosthetic and hit her father in the same motion.
"Man, what's up with you today Yang? You haven't even hit me once! You'll never get used to your new arm if you don't commit."
Yang flinched, crossing her arms defensively. "Well maybe I don't want to get used to this arm, o-or at least not right now!" She finally blurted desperately.
"Yang…" Taiyang sighed, leaning against a nearby tree and leveling her with a disappointed stare. "You need to adapt; you can't put something like this off no matter how uncomfortable it makes you."
She got the feeling he may have been a little more sympathetic if he knew that her discomfort was less to do with the phantom pains that seemed to lessen every day and more to do with the teen girl sitting innocently off to the side.
Said girl's legs swayed back and forth as she sat on their fence, watching them spar without a care in the world. She was happy to see that her sister had recovered to such a degree, to see that familiar smile gracing her lips as she sat there; she just wished it maybe hadn't come at the expense of her discovering just how far her interest in weapons really ran.
Though… Wasn't that just a little bit selfish of her?
The thought struck suddenly and she blinked, unable to focus on whatever her dad was saying as it permeated. Was she being selfish by not allowing Ruby to get over her grief in her own way?
As an older sister Ruby was her responsibility; a responsibility she'd been neglecting while she got over her own issues. Now that she was recovering wasn't it her obligation to make sure that they both came out of this happy?
Admittedly she would never truly recover from the loss of her arm, nor from Blake abandoning her in her time of need… But Ruby hadn't abandoned her, had she?
No, Ruby had been there the whole time, fighting at Beacon, struggling to get over the horrible things she'd seen and yet still finding time for her.
Well, time for her arm, but still…
A quick glance and those silver eyes glanced up from the arm she'd been hiding, alighting on her face and offering a warm smile. Quickly Yang glanced away, cheeks hot as she looked between her arm, her dad and her sister.
"…Okay, I'll commit." She finally spoke, far too few words for what she really wanted but as both Tai and Ruby's faces lit up she knew she'd made the right decision.
Even if Ruby's gaze immediately fell back to examining her arm.
With a bemused huff Yang fell into a stance, carefully circling the clearing and watching her dad's every movement. The man was a trained and experienced Huntsman and as uncomfortable as she may still have been with that lecherous gaze on her she knew she couldn't afford to drop her guard.
A single foot shifting was her only warning as the older blond dashed forward, swinging a clearly telegraphed punch to probe at her defenses.
As she swept her robotic limb across she saw his lips twitch and with a sudden reversal she swept out with a kick, twisting mid-way through the motion to stomp down and pivot in a backhand that wouldn't have been comfortable with her old flesh-and-blood arm.
The hit landed and her smirk widened as she struck a raised arm, other hand lashing out in a textbook cross that broke his guard and knocked him down.
Their father groaned as he landed, climbing back to his feet before she had the chance to say anything. "Not bad." He reluctantly admitted, wincing as he rubbed at his tailbone. "But don't get cocky; we'll see how well you do when I'm ready."
As he settled into his stance once more she shot a glance over at the petite girl, spying those intent silver eyes steal a fleeting look somewhere besides her arm and feeling a strange sort of pride. "I think I'll knock you on your ass again, old man." She goaded, cackling at his wounded pride as she rushed in.
-X- -X-
Yang scarcely paid the news any attention as she examined her new arm, turning the marvel of engineering in place as she looked over the plain piece. She had to admit that when the alternative to the prosthetic was living with one arm she definitely appreciated the opportunities such a thing afforded her; maybe she'd feel better about it if she personalized it a little… Maybe a new paint job or something?
"Yang!" Ruby beamed as she dashed over from the doorway and the blonde's gaze shot up from her appendage, eyes widening as the girl flung herself towards her. "You ran off before I could talk to you."
Yang chuckled nervously, scratching at the back of her head with her mechanical arm and blushing as the redhead's eyes briefly snapped towards it. "Well, I wanted to get to a shower ASAP y'know? Sparring against dad's messy business."
Ruby's brow furrowed as she stared up at her and slowly she nodded. "I guess that makes sense." She admitted with a considering nod. "Alright, I'll let you off the hook just this once."
Her lips twitched into a smile as she looked down at the girl. "Gee, thanks." She intoned dryly, twitching as she felt a smooth hand trailing up her abs. "Rubes… If you wanna look at the arm go right ahead."
"Thanks, Yang!" She chirped, unmoving despite the permission given. A deep flush crossed the girl's cheeks as she leaned forward, arching her back against the curve of Yang's hip. "You were really impressive out there, y'know?" She purred, licking her lips.
"Hah. Right." Yang scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Compared to dad that was nothing though."
Ruby shook her head in dismay. "Don't sell yourself so short sis, you got in some pretty good hits back there! I thought you were incredible." She pouted at the look Yang gave her. "Seriously! Your attacks were so smooth and fluid – I can't believe I've never watched you train like that before."
Her hands slid off her abdomen across her arms and Yang huffed, swallowing harshly as her touch tingled across her skin. "Th-thanks." She bit out, gasping as powerful thighs ground against her. "Whaaa-What are you-?"
"The way you moved, the force behind every motion and that-that energy." Ruby shivered, silver iris' focusing on the moment. "You were like a machine when you got going… All curves and power and so smooth. Like-Like-"
"Like a weapon?" She hazarded a guess, trembling as the younger girl whimpered.
"Exactly!" Ruby moaned softly, burying her face against the blonde's shoulder and Yang quickly sat up, pursing her lips as she felt the petite form writhe against her; both hands grasped faintly at the air and slowly she reached up, carefully grabbing at a pale shoulder. "Yang, ple-"
Velvety soft lips pressed against her own and Ruby's eyes shot open, a startled moan escaping her as powerful arms forcibly pulled her down.