A/N: So I got this idea while watching Daily Dose of Internet. To be precise, there was this clip of some dude literally falling asleep while standing. My brain suddenly turned on and started thinking about how this could work in RWBY.
"We have some important information to you that is… confidential."
All the voices became a one single mess long ago, buzzing in her aching head. She didn't feel her legs anymore either. Her entire body was going to crumble down at any moment like an old, dilapidated building. She wasn't even able to acknowledge the weird look she started getting from Oscar. It's not like it made any difference, though, since there was no way she could move apart her locked jaws and make any sound — her throat blocked all the reassurances she had readied for any kind of situation like this. It felt like words couldn't fit her dry mouth, and her tongue froze in place.
"I'm so glad you're here… with this."
The entire conversation was muffled by loud screeching in her ears, which she tried her best to ignore. The whole world was slowly fading away, getting consumed by the darkness. It brought a satisfaction of some kind. Her head became empty, nothing was bothering her anymore. Such bliss. In the end, it got too hard to even keep her wearied eyes open — or were they closed already? — and the old, dilapidated building mentioned earlier finally crumbled down.
A loud thump got everyone's attention. Ruby's poor, haggard body crushed face down right onto the polished floor and made everyone present unintentionally move away a little, surprised.
Ruby painfully moaned and raised herself on her elbow, rubbing her visibly red nose. She was no less surprised, too, judging by her face. That feeling of satisfaction was gone without a trace, like as if she never had it.
"Wow, Ruby, what just happened?" Yang said, quickly coming to her side.
Ruby glanced around and saw everyone staring at her, a mix of worry and confusion on their faces. A wave of shame washed over her.
"Ugh… Well…" she looked at her sister. "I guess… I just… fell asleep? I'm not sure?" She shrugged, wincing involuntarily. Blacking out in front of everyone definitely wasn't the part of her plans.
Yang raised her eyebrows.
"You can't be serious," she said.
"No way," Weiss chimed in.
"Jeez, kiddo, I've never seen somebody fall asleep like that. Even I never did," Qrow also commented, tilting his head in amusement.
Penny, shooting glances, suddenly materialized beside Ruby, startling her.
"Ruby, your body is showing signs of stress and extreme fatigue. Your condition is serious and should be treated as a matter of urgency, it's not normal."
Penny's robotic stuff that she sometimes did always seemed cool to Ruby, but right at the moment, it made her feel as uneasy as possible. She sat upright, instinctively fingering her red cloak she wanted to fade into. Ruby was too dizzy to actually stand on her feet. Her puffy eyes were also hurting a lot, like a swarm of bees had just attacked her and ruthlessly stung her face. Ruby could only imagine how ugly she looked with her eyes barely peeking out of her massive eye bags.
"My sincere apologies. I should have let all of you rest and get the needed medical treatment first," General Ironwood said, slowly coming from behind his table, his loud steps sounded through the office. It couldn't get much worse, but it still did! Ruby's cheeks burned red with embarrassment.
The girl felt so small and unsecured under all these gazes. She hadn't been able to handle the situation properly, she had ruined everything and everyone was making a fuss over nothing now!
"Aw, come on, it's not that-"
"Shut up, Ruby," Weiss silenced her, getting an unhappy squeak in the response.
"Let's leave it all for later," Ironwood continued. "Penny will show you around the campus, and Winter will provide you with further instructions. Then we'll talk about the plan and get into details. For now, take your time and rest."
"T-Thank you," Oscar said.
Some part of Ruby cringed and wanted to die, another felt relieved and was ready to slip into the bed and sleep until the end of the world. These parts were furiously fighting with each other like two Beowolfs fighting over food.
"Come on, Ruby," Yang helped Ruby to get onto her feet, propping her sister, so she wouldn't fall again, for which she received a little annoyed look from her. "What? You just barely drilled into the floor with your face." The statement made Ruby smile a little.
"If you were like that, Ruby, why didn't you tell us?" Blake said.
"Yes, why? You scared us!" Weiss put her hand on her side, which always meant she was very annoyed and could burn you alive at any second.
"I'm sorry..."
"Guys, are you coming? Is Ruby okay?" Jaune asked. Others were leaving already, led by Penny. Ruby looked around in shock, only now realizing that Penny who had been sitting beside her one second ago had somehow managed to disappear already. Her creepy sneaking abilities or whatever was that hasn't changed a bit since… well, Vytal Tournament.
"Don't worry, Ruby, everybody is also very tired," Ren said with a little smile. "Even Nora is."
"Yeah, can you even imagine that? I am tired!" Nora threw her hands up. "And I am the one saying that! It's just crazy!"
"To be honest, if you didn't fall, maybe I would instead," Oscar sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, yeah. We're coming," Yang smiled, rolling her eyes. "Let's go, Ruby," and patted her sister's back. "We've also got a lot of talking to do."
Eh...
"And never do something like this ever again!" Weiss was very caring, however, it sounded more like a threat. Or maybe it was exactly what it was — a threat, making Ruby shiver.
Ruby sighed and pressed closely to Yang's side, relaxing. She messed up, seriously messed up, and made everyone worried, but maybe it wasn't that bad after all. A little bit of rest won't hurt.