Happy birthday to me! Yay!
All these years have gone by, and I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up, so I'm putting together a Lateral Move package and staying in the service!
Yay?
As for my writing habits, I have three more one-shots now on my Betas plates. As soon as they finish running them through the wringer I'll get them out, certainly before the end of the year (I hope).
The Muse has been giving me fits over the whole "title" thing, and I'm trying to pin her down long enough to get titles out for these. Once I have that, I need her to get back to the big pieces...which are, incidentally, actually being worked on (slowly).
Enjoy!
"...Now I understand the problems you can see."
Video Killed the Radio Star- The Buggles
Blake cracked her eyes open.
The (secret) faunus member of the recently christened team RWBY squinted at the sunlight streaming through the window. She was about to roll over, when her eyes caught on Ruby's bunk, and what she saw there.
Or, rather, what she didn't see.
She sat up, concern for her new leader flooding her, only to flop back down with a snort as she caught a view of Weiss' bed. Ruby found and Weiss still where she was supposed to be, Blake closed her eyes. The cat faunus had zero interest in why the two were sharing a bed, and to be honest she didn't really care if they did. As long as things stayed quiet, the two could shag like bunnies as far as she was concerned. The age difference might have worried her, if the two people involved weren't in paramilitary training, learning how to kill monsters that featured in people's nightmares across Remnant. Ruby had (tentatively) proven herself in the initial battle for a bunch of 'relics,' certainly enough for Blake to give the girl her space when it came to choosing her bed partners. The cat faunus wasn't her sister, and she wasn't the kind of person to tell others how to live their lives.
So, as long as there weren't loud noises, she would be content to let the two do their thing.
Just as she was falling back to sleep a scream pierced the morning silence and Blake reacted like anyone who had lived and worked as a terrorist for several years would. Hearing that her partner was moving toward the noise, and would be landing on the window side of the bed, she rolled to the left; grabbing the knife from under her pillow where she stored it as she did so.
Whirling around, she was unsurprised to see Yang standing and looking around for the threat, her gauntlets active and her fists up. Weiss was lying in bed, alone now, and there was a lump laying on the floor. A glance confirmed that the lump was Ruby.
"Damn." Yang sounded far too cheerful and Blake winced. How her partner could go from dead asleep to happily awake the cat faunus didn't know, but it was against the natural order of things. Leave it to her to end up with a morning person for a partner. "Hard enough that it blew you out of her bed? Nice one, Ruby!"
The younger girl's spluttering, and Weiss's pallor suddenly matching her partner's name, had Blake raise an eyebrow. Carefully placing her knife back under her pillow, she walked around to stare down at the two other students. The smaller girl was rubbing her elbow (which she must have landed on when Weiss screamed) and stammering half-denials and apologies; while Weiss looked somewhere between furious and mortified, a hand over her mouth.
Yang grinned (and it was against the laws of nature that she didn't even have a single hair out of place from her usual hairstyle). "Yeah, yeah." She waved off her sister's denials, disabling her gauntlets as she did so. "So Weiss, you're taking care of my sister then?"
"I most certainly am not!" the pale girl responded hotly. "I woke up to find-"
What exactly she had found would remain a mystery, as the door burst open and a half-dressed Pyrrha burst in, followed by a hammer wielding, completely naked, Nora.
Blake blinked.
Weiss made a choking noise.
Ruby flopped back and stared at the ceiling.
Yang gave an appreciative whistle. "Nora, you and I are going to the gym. I don't know what you do, but I've been looking for a partner who can keep up with me."
Pyrrha turned slightly taking in the sight of her teammate, and then glanced back at RWBY, a faint pink color on her cheeks. "Nora, can you please go and get dressed?"
"Why?" The short haired girl shot back, pulling the door shut. "We're all girls here."
The faunus sighed. "Yes, but unless you forgot, one of us is underage." She glanced pointedly at Ruby, who was still staring at the ceiling. Blake might not care, but it was clear that Nora's lack of attire was bothering at least one of her teammates; she wasn't about to leave any of the team in the lurch.
She'd left that behind with her past.
"Her dad signed for her to be here, " Nora responded, leaning on her hammer. "She's as much an adult as us. If she can't handle a little skin, then she'll just need to get over it." Pyrrha opened her mouth, and the smaller redhead cut her off. "I know you're not thrilled about it, but you also know that when we start field medicine they're going to split us down gender lines."
"And what about us?" Weiss asked, pulling her blanket up under her chin. "What if we aren't comfortable."
Nora shrugged, now twirling her hammer. "I'd risk one of you deciding to cop a feel on one of my ta-ta's then bleed out from a Grimm's tooth in my sternum."
While she had apparently misinterpreted the question, Blake had to admit, when phrased like that, there wasn't much more to say- or, at least, nothing coherent. Finally Pyrrha spoke. "So, um, is everyone okay?"
Yang wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I guess Weiss and Ruby were in bed, and something happened-"
Pyrrha put her hand on her forehead. "Never mind. I don't want to know the details." She turned to her teammate. "Let's go get dressed."
Nora looked up from where she'd been trying to spin her hammer on it's handle. "Sure," she chirped, giving Weiss a wink, and Ruby a frown when she saw the younger girl was still staring at the ceiling. "You two want any help with anything, just scream."
Yang laughed as Blake just shook her head and Yang began sputtering while Ruby turned red.
The two girls of JNPR departed, and Blake glanced at the mess. Ruby was still blushing brighter than her name. Weiss had a face to match, and was shooting the girl on the floor dirty looks, and Yang just looked immeasurably amused. Deciding that Weiss and Ruby needed to talk, and that her partner would undoubtedly be inserting herself into the conversation at every opportunity, Blake mournfully figured that sleep was done for the day. With that thought, she realized that if she didn't hurry she would be guaranteed a cold shower, since Weiss or Ruby would probably hide in the bathroom until they were out of hot water (literally or metaphorically).
Actually, Weiss looked like she would happily kill her partner, and Ruby looked mortified enough to let her.
Washing her hands of the situation, the faunus walked to the bathroom. As she closed the door and started the water, her teammates' voices disappeared under the noise.
Hopefully whatever happened wouldn't be repeated.
Blake pulled the body closer to her.
It wasn't like she hadn't shared a twin bed before, but she didn't remember any of her previous partners being this small. She cuddled closer. Apparently she liked being the big spoon, who knew? Drifting back from the REM cycle she had been in, a small thought pattered sleepily through her tired brain: Who was she sleeping with again?
She frowned at the thought, dismissing it with a twitch of her ears. As far as she was concerned she would no doubt remember whomever she woke up with. She was too tired to remember right now. She didn't want to remember right now, because that would require work, which meant energy- energy she would much rather use to sleep with. Unfortunately, the damn question kept buzzing through her subconscious, no matter how much she swatted it away. She was comfortable, she was tired, she was out of patience and extremely curious. Her eyes cracked open in annoyance, as much to satisfy her curiosity as to make the thought go away, before widening in surprise. She was in bed with Ruby!?
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing on the surface, she supposed, trying to untangle herself from the smaller girl even as her leader continued to snuggle into her. It was just that she usually- make that always- remembered who she went to bed with- and certainly remembered going to bed with them! Racing through her memories of the night before all she remembered was the usual homework, tea, and bed that her routine tended to consist of. No liquor, no romantic dates, not even an embarrassed last-minute blurting of feelings followed by… well anything that might have led her to be sharing a bed with someone- least of all Ruby.
A tiny noise of discontent came from the smaller girl as the faunus finally managed to put some distance between herself and her leader. The noises continued until Ruby finally rolled over and grabbed her like a giant teddy bear, pulling the larger girl into her chest, and resting her head on her shoulder. Resistance seemed to be futile this time, and Blake found herself staring at the bed above her, the design on the bottom of the mattress getting clearer as the morning light slowly got brighter and brighter. When the mattress shifted with her partner's weight, her brain caught on something else to be concerned about: What was Yang going to say?
Sure, she had been fairly relaxed when she found her sister in bed with Weiss, but that was Weiss- half the school was fairly sure they were dating anyway. Coco was running a book on the subject, and even Yang had reportedly put money down on her sister's love life. So finding Ruby with Weiss was no doubt a good thing in the blonde's world, but Blake would be a different matter- wouldn't she?
The cat faunus tried to ignore the cute little mewl that came from her bed partner as the smaller girl nuzzled into her chest. She also tried to ignore the awkward position the two were now in, instead focusing on that question. Yang was, after all, 'pretty chill' by her own admission, and maybe Blake was seeing more than was there, but it seemed like the blonde had her own designs on a certain cat faunus. Not that Blake would complain if that were the case. What would happen to that (admittedly non-existent) relationship if the brawler found her in bed with her little sister? Would she believe Blake if she said she had no idea how she had ended up in bed with Ruby? A horrifying thought crossed her mind: would Ruby believe her?
Blake was older, wiser, and stronger (or at least a bit better at fighting, though not by much) than her leader- would Ruby think that the cat faunus had taken advantage of her? As she began to spiral into a world of questions and nerves, someone whispered her name, pulling her from her worsening thoughts.
"Blake!"
She blinked, surprised to feel a weight suddenly absent from her chest, turning her head until golden eyes met silver. Not sure what else to say, she just said the first thing that came into her head. "Good morning, Ruby."
The smaller girl immediately started untangling herself from Blake, apologizing in overdrive as she did so. "OhmygoshBlakeI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantomakeyouuncomfortable. Ididn'tdidI? OhI'msureIdid-Ididn'tmeantoreally! IpromiseIwon'tletithappenagain. Probably. ImeanIdon'tthinkitwill. I just…" She trailed off, taking a shuddering deep breath, tears clearly forming in her eyes. "I'm really sorry Blake. I just… I get clingy and I'm sorry."
Blake focused on something else. "You mean you weren't sleeping with Weiss?"
"I sleep with everyone, even Yang!" Ruby replied earnestly, her eyes widening when she realized what she'd said. "I don't mean like sex, I mean like, you know, sleep!" Her face now as red as her name, she explained a bit more to the confused faunus. "When I was like, four I think, I kinda became, well, clingy." She sighed. "I used to go into Yang's room all the time and just sleep with her. Dad always woke me up and sent me back to my room if I went to him, but Yang never did, just rolled over and let me take up some of the bed." She looked away, looking guilty. "I just… it felt safe, you know?" As Blake nodded, the smaller girl continued. "I accidentally...kinda… brought it with me?" She laughed nervously. "We figured that out when I woke up in Pyrrha's sleeping bag the first day we got here." The faunus nodded again, remembering the empty sleeping bag next to Yang, and how the blonde had immediately bolted off. At the time Blake had just thought Ruby had gotten up ahead of them, and that the brawler just needed to use the bathroom. That the youngest member of the year might be in trouble hadn't even crossed her mind.
"So am I likely to find you in my bed often?"
"I'll try not to!" Ruby looked caught between wanting to cry and wanting to swear a blood oath. "I promise. You can just roll me on the floor, I'll be fine and-"
"No." Blake interrupted firmly. "I am not about to hurt you in order to keep you out of my bed."
"I'm not really good at waking up for alarms… or other people..." Ruby admitted, a touch of embarrassment touching her face again. Idly, Blake wondered if the girl had a spare blood supply she kept exclusively for blushing and nosebleeds over 'amazing' weapons. "I'll be fine though, trust me."
Tilting her head slightly, Blake focused on the present and regarded her friend and teammate. Her leader was clearly genuine in her statement. As far as Ruby was concerned, the shock of waking up suddenly on the floor was the only way that this could be solved. Blake, however, thought her friend was ignoring a very obvious solution. "Why can't I just leave you be?"
"I couldn't ask you-"
"You're my teammate. You don't have to." The words were out of her mouth before she realized it.
"Really?" Ruby smiled. "I mean, I know we're friends, but I really don't want to put that to the test over something as stupid as this-"
"It's not stupid." A new voice interrupted, and Blake jumped slightly, having been paying full attention to Ruby. Turning, she saw Yang was leaning over the bed, her hair making a golder curtain all the way down from her head. "Really sis, I told you she'd be fine with it." She gave Blake a wink, and the cat faunus smiled weakly back. "My partner is a gem. She didn't scream even a little, unlike yours."
Blake smirked. "I've found that screaming doesn't solve a whole lot."
"Great way to celebrate some pent-up tension finally getting released." Yang quipped, before flipping down. "I'm going to the gym girls, either of you want to come?"
Blake gave her partner an annoyed look. "Why you get up at the crack of dawn is beyond me, there's a perfectly good time to go; at the end of the day."
Yang shrugged, looking at her sister. Her partner liked getting up early for some insane reason, and Blake was not about to cave and get up with her.
Yet.
"If I'm good to sleep in, I'm sleeping," Ruby replied to her sister's questioning gaze. "It's Saturday, Yang. Go back to sleep."
"Whatever, lazybones." The blonde's smile took any sting out of her words. "I'm sure I can get Nora to join me."
"Don't hurt yourself." Ruby replied, her earnest demeanor back. "I know you like competing, but you may need to just accept that Nora is stronger than you-"
Yang scoffed. "As if. You two sleep. I'll do your reps for you." With that she grabbed her bag and disappeared out the door, no doubt to find Nora and drag the girl to the gym; though it was doubtful any dragging would be necessary. The redhead was just as devoted to time in the gym as Yang was.
Ruby rolled out of bed, only to be stopped by Blake. "I was serious about you being able to share a bed if you really need to."
The smaller girl nodded. "I appreciate that, really Blake, I do. I just...I don't want to take advantage of your kindness, okay?" She smiled a bit, apparently trying to show she wasn't trying to cause offense. "I'm still going to try to sleep in my bed though. I might end up sharing bed space with you, Yang, or even Weiss- who was surprisingly okay with everything after we explained it to her, and after her coffee- but I'm going to try to limit it."
Blake nodded. "I get it, but don't think you don't have help from us. It sounds like even Weiss is willing to help you. You don't have to do this alone."
"Weiss said the same thing," Ruby replied, "but this is something I have to do myself. I appreciate you guys being willing to support me, but it's part of growing up."
"I know you're almost my age," Blake said quietly, licking her lips. "But don't grow up too fast, okay? Some of u- some people don't have a choice."
"I do have a choice though, and I choose to, for you guys." Ruby sent a smile across the room to a still-unconscious Weiss, and then grinned at the door. "I'm off to get some sleep, Blake. Hopefully I won't bug you in your bed again."
Blake just nodded, leaning back as her team's leader clambered up onto her precariously perched bed, flopping into it and causing the ropes to strain quietly and the wood to groan. Weiss shifted slightly, but remained oblivious. Blake, however, stared at the bed above herself, lost in thought for the second time that morning.
Maybe Ruby was learning to fight for her life, and was going to lead them in battle, but it also seemed like the girl could use a mentor- or at least a friend. While Blake probably wasn't the best person to be either, she could try. Weiss was apparently trying too, and Yang seemed willing to let them join her.
Blake rolled over. She hoped Ruby would eventually make her way back into her bed again, but not only because she wanted to help…
She really did enjoy being the big spoon.
Who knew?
Thanks for reading!
Off to find the Muse. I think she's gone somewhere cooler for the summer; which is only a shame because she left me behind. And I'm still working on things darn it!
Working Title: Sleeping Arrangements
No Title Credit this time, I'm still in progress on the other three.
R&R!