Author's Notes: Hello again folks. There is a bit of lewdness at the bottom of the chapter, but nothing that isn't par for the course or too graphic. Regardless, I'm gonna call it NSFW, unless you, too, like to live dangerously.
Music Choice: Pools by Glass Animals
Eclipse
Chapter 4
Back to School Part II
It was the second day of pre-registration, and STRQ had finally seen to all their paperwork and necessary bureaucratic bullshit. It was also the day where Ozpin and the other staff members would have their little meet and greet, before the freshmen were launched off a cliff somewhere in the name of tradition and made to fight for their lives against undead monsters.
The opening ceremony was mainly for potential freshmen, and not something Raven was particularly invested in seeing a second time; she honestly did not plan to attend, and was only interested in the naming ceremony to see the new teams and their potential competition for the coming year. So when the rest of STRQ tried to gang press her into attending with them in the name of comradery, Raven shifted skins and promptly flew out their dorm window, delighting in their dumbstruck faces.
Try making me do anything now, fuckers.
Raven's wings carried her easily over the school grounds. No one pointed her out, no one even looked up as she flew overhead. She was invisible to the average person, and the relief that filled her with was nearly euphoric as she soared with no destination in mind.
Now, her mothers had naturally warned her and Qrow of Ozpin, and using her new abilities anywhere he might detect them. However, the Headmaster was in the auditorium, greeting his new students. For this moment, the campus belonged to her and the skies above.
Croaking, Raven rolled in the air, delighting in the sensation of freedom as she explored the Academy in a whole new way. She could see the glittering spires of Vale in the distance, and knew she could easily fly there if she so chose; or to the beautiful trees of Forever Fall forest, or even the nearby ocean. She could go anywhere she wanted, see whatever she wanted, and no one could tell her otherwise. The sheer amount of freedom presented before her was intoxicating.
Other birds passed her by, a flock of silly seagulls, on their way to some roost or another. They left her alone, squawking loudly as they flapped away. She kept an eye out for hawks or other corvids that may try to chase her out of their territory, and circled the Library, taking in the view. She realized she had missed Beacon. Despite everything, the school had become her home away from home, mostly due to the people that inhabited it.
As she circled again, she spotted the familiar forms of her classmates, coming up the path from the small airfield where the ferry to Vale resided. Team BBLK had returned. She listened to Barty's familiar nonstop caffeinated chatter, interrupted occasionally by Liana or Becca. She briefly considered dive-bombing them to get a reaction, before brushing the idea away as too childish.
Instead, she landed in a tree by the Library, ruffling her feathers as she perched on a hefty branch; she was alone here, and she realized it was the first time she had had any real solitude in weeks. Life in the tribe had always been hectic and without much time or space for privacy; and she had been surrounded by her teammates nonstop for the entire break. Not that she didn't love them; she just loved her private moments, too, and hoarded them like drops of gold.
She warbled, a odd knocking sound. The wind blew softly, carrying with it the scents of the distant Kingdom. Her thoughts drifted as she shuffled from one foot to the other. She thought about the coming year, and the year that had past; everything she had discovered, and the weight of responsibility that came with it. The world was an even bigger, stranger and darker place than she had ever realized possible.
A noise below her caught her attention, and she zeroed in on it immediately. A slinky black cat was stalking across the grass, ears high as it hunted for something. Raven eyed it balefully. She was not very fond of cats these days. As far as she knew, they were all spies for Set.
The cat paid her no mind, its inky tail swishing behind it as it crept through the summer fat grasses. It paused, one paw frozen as it watched something move in the brush, pupils wide. Then it looked up and met her eyes, focusing on her instantly. Raven cawed irritably, and the cat jumped, before settling. They stared at each other, Raven trying to look intimidating, while the cat watched her with big honey eyes. After several long moments, the cat stepped forward, not taking its eyes off of her. She cawed again, voice rough with aggression, and the cat hesitated.
Try me, fur-ball...
The cat continued to stalk her, slipping closer and trying to hide behind the tree trunk. Raven fluffed herself in annoyance, waiting. After several long seconds, a dark little face peaking out at her from behind the tree trunk, ears flat. Raven warbled in amusement, pretending to preen herself.
Yea, ok. C'mere fluffy.
The cat's tail whipped before it leaped onto her branch, its butt wiggling as it prepared to pounce. It was clearly an adolescent, and had not learned to mind its business; not that cats ever minded their own damn business. Another second passed, and the cat sprang, claws outstretched; and Raven shifted instantly back into her human skin, grabbing the kitten in midair.
Fluffy's eyes had widened in absolute terror, and it clawed her gauntlets uselessly, hissing. Raven lifted the little thing up to face level, glaring at it.
"What did we learn?" she drawled as the kitten mewled pitifully.
She turned the cat around and gently let it drop to the base of the tree; it landed easily on its feet, hair standing on end as it arched angrily, giving her a final growl and darting away. She knew that was not very nice, to scare some baby animal that way, but she still felt a little smug.
Don't fuck with birds, you little asshole...
After a few more moments, Raven shifted her skins again, gliding off into the mid-morning air.
...
It was late afternoon when Raven slipped back into their dorm room. From her bonds, she knew that Qrow and Taiyang had scampered off somewhere in Vale, likely one of the arcades; Summer, however, was home and awake. Her emotions occasionally flickered over their shared bond, and Raven could sense that her partner was perhaps a little irritated at being left alone. From the smell of baked goods, she was clearly trying to distract herself with one of her favorite hobbies.
Raven poked her head into the kitchenette, spotting her girlfriend instantly. Summer was, as was tradition, covered in flour. Raven did not understand how Summer always managed to make such a mess, other than perhaps Summer had fun making messes. That was generally a prime motivator for the other girl.
"Hey," Raven smiled.
Summer bobbed in greeting, still focused on her task as she scooped more cookie dough on a tray. Raven hesitated, before slinking into the kitchenette and wrapping her arms around Summer's midsection, resting her chin between her ears. Said ears flicked backwards, but Summer said nothing, still going about her task as if Raven wasn't there.
Raven sniffed, before pressing her lips to Summer's head.
"Hey?"
"Hm?" Summer hummed, still ignoring her.
Raven frowned slightly. Perhaps Summer was angrier than she thought?
"Heeeeey?" she drew out, tightening her arms.
"Yeeees?" Summer returned, glancing up at her.
"...I love you?" Raven kissed her head again. Summer's face twitched in barely concealed amusement before she started giggling openly.
"Aww, but. If you really loved me, then why would you ditch me? Hm?" Summer teased.
Raven scoffed, realizing she had been tricked as Summer wrapped her fingers over her own.
"I didn't ditch you," Raven protested.
"Ya huh. I was abandoned, all by myself. Whatever was I supposed to do, all on my lonesome," Summer proclaimed dramatically, fanning herself. "Surely I can never manage to be alone for a few hours!"
"Oh, ok," Raven huffed. "I see what you're doing."
"What do you mean? I'm clearly pining over my dark brooding lover, who just, abandons me on a whim! Here! All alone-"
"You're being mean," Raven reprimanded, growling playfully into her neck. "Where did you learn how to be mean?"
Summer turned in arms, fixing her with her eyes; they were still mischievous, yes, but they possessed a familiar, darker shade.
"Am I? You're right. I can be kinda mean sometimes," Summer smiled, a canine sliding over her bottom lip. A dangerous little knife glint. "But I can also be...very nice, too. Sometimes. Want me to show you?"
Raven gulped reflexively. She should have really known better by now; but when it came to parsing out other peoples feelings, she was still, at times, off the mark. Summer had not been irritated at being left alone, apparently.
It was a trap. An adorable, sexy trap.
"Well I mean," Raven started, almost stammering. "The guys are, ah. Somewhere?"
"Mmhm?" Summer continued to smirk, running a hand smoothly over her side. "Wow, I wonder how that, just, magically happened?"
"It um. It beats me," Raven glanced at the door, then down at her girlfriend.
Devious, very devious scheming, is how that fucking happens...
Summer beamed at her, arms still covered in flour as she played with the hem of Raven's skirt. She gestured with a finger, and Raven instinctively leaned in closer; Summer kissed her, the motion languid, sensual. Raven felt herself relax into the sensation, the noise in her mind quieting.
"Mmm," Summer hummed playfully against her mouth, pleased with herself, before pulling away. She stared into her eyes; Raven realized dimly that she couldn't have looked away even if she wanted to.
"Go lay down," Summer suddenly declared, turning to wash her hands.
Raven hesitated, considering her own desires carefully, before deciding that was really not such a bad idea. A part of her considered pushing back, just to see what would happen, when she noticed Summer appraising her own reactions from the corner of her eye.
Raven knew the other girl was actually very cautious when it came to her advances towards her, and that she did not want Raven to be uncomfortable at any point. She always approached Raven's more obvious boundaries as if they were practically sacred, always asking permission to be anywhere near them; ready to bolt away at the slightest sign that her presence was unwanted. Summer was literally obsessed with the concept of consent, and the languages and means necessary for negotiating such. Regardless, there was honestly still a lot about how Summer liked to express her sexuality that Raven was still learning about; but Raven did, if anything, love learning.
Trying to play it cool, she smirked, rolled her eyes affectionately, and went into the other room. There was a nervous flutter in her chest, but it was the good kind. Her eyes flicked between their respective beds. She settled on Summer's, and kicked her shoes off, resting her hands behind her head as she tried to be casual.
Summer continued moving around in the kitchen, utensils clattering in the sink and water running as she cleaned up. Raven fought to not keep looking apprehensively at the door, annoyed with herself more than anything.
It wasn't like they hadn't crossed that bridge together, already; not that she hadn't been pretty nervous then, either, but that hadn't really been planned like this. Nor had it been in their dorm room at school; she knew that it technically didn't matter.
Places were just places after all, but this was their home, the one they shared with one another. It was a mingling of spaces, and bringing that energy here versus anywhere else made her feel strange. It had a sense of permanence to it that she hadn't really expected.
You can always say no.
True. She knew that, and she knew if she did that it be accepted immediately, no questions asked. The thing was that she didn't want to say no. She...liked sex. Which honestly surprised the hell out of her. Sex had never been a thing she gave much mind to, previously. There had been the trauma from her childhood, but that wasn't something she personally considered as being in the same neighborhood. Dust, it wasn't even the same continent.
Sex had always seemed like such a waste of time and energy to her. The way people practically slavered all of themselves trying to get a few minutes of pleasure in by rubbing sweaty bodies together; it had never struck her as being nearly so important as other people tried to make it out to be. She had never understood what the obsession with it was, and to a degree, still didn't.
Before Summer, she had never really even thought about being that way with someone else, save in clinical scenarios in her head that never woke up any actual feelings. She had previously assumed that perhaps there was something wrong with her, and accepted it as just another strange feature in her already strange head. Now she realized that not everyone needed that wiring to be 'normal', no matter what society said. The pursuit of sex in itself still did not interest her, personally; the pursuit of that connection with Summer, however, was something she greatly enjoyed and still wanted much more of.
She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought, a variety of images making the rounds in her mind. She tried to imagine being that way with other people, and still could not. Save for, perhaps, one. Her mouth twitched in wry amusement at the idea. That would be...very different, she knew. Completely different, in fact, but not necessarily bad. Between the two of them, they would have no clue what they were doing, though; which in itself could be amusing.
Raven studied the emotions the idea brought up in her, ranging from humor and desire to something more squishy: vulnerability. Now that was odd, because it was a different kind of vulnerability than she had around her partner. She wasn't sure why.
She noticed a weight at the end of the bed and nearly jumped, her eyes darting down to meet Summer's own silver. The faunus was studying her face carefully, not having made the move to touch her.
"Hey. Where'd you go?" Summer asked.
Raven blinked at the question, before finally understanding.
"Oh. I'm not really sure, to be honest," she chuckled a little.
"...You ok?" Summer started. "If you're aren't feeling it, we can like, watch movies and have a no boys night instead."
Summer always worried that she was somehow the problem. Raven really wished she wouldn't, but also knew she'd just have to teach her otherwise. She more than anyone knew how deeply ingrained certain insecurities could be.
Raven smiled sincerely, reaching a hand out and took Summer's fingers in her own. Summer's face was still a tinge too concerned, but she seemed to relax as Raven pulled her up next to her on the bed. Raven wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, relishing the feel of her. She burrowed into Summer's chest playfully, eliciting a round of amused giggles that brought a smile to her face.
"You're wearing too many clothes," Raven insisted with a salacious smile, enjoying the brief amount of pink that lit up Summer's face.
That rapidly changed as Summer's eyes darkened, the faunus rolling on top of her with a hungry smile on her far too pretty face. Raven felt her neck heat instantly at the image, and she nearly grumbled at her traitorous body. It was so unfair that she blushed so much.
"Hmm, well, we can definiiitely fix that," Summer purred, her hands ghosting up Raven's arms. "But first things first, I have to make a few requests."
"O-oh?" Raven hummed, her pulse quickening.
"Yep," Summer ghost her lips over her neck. "One, that's verrryy important, is that you keep your hands up here. No matter what."
She placed her hands over her head by the board, pressing them into the pillow firmly. Raven raised a brow calmly.
"Ok. That might be a little difficult," she smirked, trying to come across as far more confident than she really was.
"I believe in you," Summer teased, before lifting her hands away. "Two, you don't finish until I say so."
Raven's face heated, destroying her blase facade instantly.
"Um...anything else?" she stammered.
Summer ran her eyes over her body, her affection and lust plain for all the world to see; Raven felt her breath stutter, her core heating automatically.
"Just one final thing," Summer leaned in, pressing a heated kiss to her ear. "Until I say otherwise, you call me ma'am. Ok?"
Raven's mouth twisted in a smile, feeling cheerfully devious.
"Ha...yes ma'am."
"Hmm. Good girl."
And their lips met.