Of Sunsets and Night Skies

Chapter Seventy: Daily Bees 858

BumblBY


Inspired by u/Cryochronos' 'Daily Bees #858' post on /r/Bumblby.


Yang wasn't sure exactly when Blake had started nudging up against her, gentle presses of her forehead or her cheek against the blonde. Yang wasn't sure exactly when she'd begun picking up on the strange movements either, but now she couldn't help but notice them everywhere.

The blonde had started tracking the occurrences of the odd behaviour, and after a few days she'd noticed a peculiar pattern. Aloof and restrained during the day, the normally reserved feline faunus seemed to let her guard down in the evenings, particularly when she was tired. After training, or after missions, Blake seemed to power down. Her energy drained, she could no longer fight the seemingly irresistible pull of her partner, and slowly circled the blonde closer and closer until they were touching. It never mattered where Yang was, or what she was doing, Blake sought her out and invaded her personal space without fail, much to the blonde's amusement.

For all the things that the blonde had in spades, she'd never had any hangups about her personal space.

She welcomed the quiet girl into her bubble, letting the faunus find her own limits of comfort as they silently explored each others boundaries.

Yang, she had none. She silently squealed with glee, internally rejoicing each time her partner leaned against her or brushed their shoulders together. She knew she was probably more excited than was really necessary, but Yang had grown up equating physical touch to affection, and although Blake had no idea, and probably didn't mean for it to appear so, Yang liked to pretend that the fleeting casual touches meant that the faunus was slowly warming up to her partner. This filled the blonde with an indescribable emotion, something ephemeral and opaque; it eluded her in a way she couldn't fully describe, leaving her feeling strangely wired.

Yang was pulled from her thoughts quite abruptly by the feeling of someone watching her. Blinking rapidly, she forced her vision back into focus, the feeling growing and morphing into something sharper, something dangerous. Her previous train of thought disappeared from her mind as she remembered where she was.

Sharply shaped eyebrows furrowed over lilac eyes. It felt less like she was being stared at, and more like she was being hunted. Which made no sense, she realized, as the day's mission was long over.

Snapping her head away from the window of the Rapid Transport Bullhead that ferried them back to their hotel in Atlas, Yang glanced around the stripped out interior, searching for the source of her consternation.

Ruby, chatting idly with the pilot as she leaned against the door frame that separated the cockpit from the payload bay.

Lilac eyes shifted to Weiss. The girl sat across from her, one leg daintily folded over the other, staring disinterestedly at her scroll.

Finally, her gaze slid to Blake. The woman was leaning against the far wall of the shuttle, arms crossed under her chest. Meeting Blake's piercing, somber gaze, Yang stifled a sharp intake of breath as she realized that it was her partner that was staring at her so intently.

As their eyes met, Blake's pupils dilated swiftly, narrow slits of black widening to almost completely drown out the golden rings that surrounded them.

'You okay?' Yang mouthed, holding her thumb up questioningly. Blake seemed to relax a bit at that, her shoulders drooping slightly as the tension seemed to bleed from her body.

A small nod, a silent sigh.

Yang gestured to the empty seat beside her, already suspecting what her partner wanted.

Blake's eyes fell from the blonde to the offered seat, and she hesitated only a moment, gaze flicking quickly to Weiss and back before returning to her partner. Pushing off the wall, Blake strode across the narrow payload bay in a few short steps. Yang grinned happily as her partner slid effortlessly into the seat beside her, and she reached up to stretch her right arm over the back of Blake's chair, all but inviting the raven-haired girl to lean against her shoulder.

Bake hesitated once more, eyes shifting from Weiss to Ruby and back, but inevitably, as she always seemed to do lately, she acquiesced, leaning up against Yang's right side. Closing her eyes, her chest rose and fell with a deep contented sigh, relaxing against her partner and letting the blonde support her weight.

Tilting her head back to hide the grin spreading across her face, Yang stared at the ceiling as she slowly curled her right arm around Blake's shoulders. She did so slowly, giving her cautious partner plenty of time to ward off any intrusion into her personal space that she wasn't happy with.

Blake did nothing.

Yang hummed contentedly, setting off a furious ear-flicking from Blake as the faunus' delicate appendage swiped across Yang's cheek. Stifling a giggle, Yang reached over Blake's head to scratch at her ticklish cheek, taking a moment to lightly cradle Blake's head protectively against her shoulder. Fingers brushing through Blake's hair, the faunus pushed even closer in approval, nearly shoving Yang over in her seat.

"You know you don't have to wait for me to invite you every time." Yang murmured quietly. With their proximity and Blake's sensitive hearing, Yang knew she didn't have to talk very loudly for her partner to hear her.

Blake hummed something non-committal, choosing instead to close her eyes and nuzzle lightly against Yang's shoulder.

Weiss chose that moment to tune into reality, and she glanced up from her scroll to take stock of her surroundings. Finding what was becoming a more frequent scene playing out in front of her, she rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her scroll. Her expression lacked scorn, however, and Yang could only smile in response.

With her right arm protectively wrapped around Blake's shoulders, her left hand sought out her own scroll, slipping it from her jacket pocket and bringing it to bear in front of her. A glance at the GPS tracker showed that they still had another fifteen minutes of flight before they reached Atlas, more than enough time for a quick catnap.

Unable to keep the grin from spreading across her face, she was once again rewarded with Blake's feline ear flicking madly against her cheek.

"Sorry." She whispered, schooling her face into a neutral expression.

Blake, eyes closed, merely hummed quietly in response, her breathing slowing as she pressed up against her partner.

Tilting her head back and closing her eyes as well, Yang focused all of her attention on her partner, straining to hear her partner's quiet breaths over the roar of the Bullhead's engines. It was nearly impossible though, so Yang settled for focusing on the fleeing of Blake's chest gently rising and falling against her with each deepening breath.

Despite the constant noise, Yang had almost been lulled into a stupor herself when she felt the first nudge. Awakening instantly, she kept very still and tried to calm her suddenly racing heart. A second later, and Blake nudged against her again, stretching up and shoving her head up against Yang's cheek. It was gentle, and Yang leaned into the touch, gently nuzzling against the top of Blake's head. Opening her eyes, she caught Weiss staring, the silver-haired woman watching them with an expressionless face. Whatever her thoughts on what was playing out in front of her, she gave no indication as she observed her fellow teammates unabashedly.

Yang was about to say something, a quip coming to the tip of her tongue, but it was quickly forgotten as Blake butted her head against Yang's cheek once more, this time a bit more aggressively. With the faunus pushing herself against the blonde, Yang tried not to laugh as Blake leaned her full weight on her partner.

"Blakey... " Yang cooed softly, unsure how unconscious her partner actually was.

"Mmm." Blake hummed quietly, the sound barely audible over the background noise.

Yang tightened her grasp on Blake's shoulders, pulling her partner tightly to her. Blake responded immediately, reaching out with her left hand and placing it on Yang's thigh. Pushing herself up, Blake rammed her head into Yang's chin, tucking her head into the crook of Yang's neck as Yang reached up to rub at her cheek.

"Blake, you're gonna knock me out one day." Yang muttered, unable to keep the grin from spreading across her face as Blake nuzzled against her. Blake's left ear flicked repeatedly in an attempt to dislodge the golden curls from her fur, but the more she struggled, the more they entwined, and eventually she gave up.

As Blake settled down, finally having chose the most uncomfortable looking comfortable position she could, Yang's curiosity got the better of her as she once more pulled her scroll out of her pocket. Bringing it up to her face, she opened up the internet browser, then stared at it for a moment as she contemplated how to phrase what she wanted to know.

Why does a feline faunus headbutt me? Yang's thumb flew over the digital keyboard with a swiftness borne of many years of practice, and after a second of loading, Yang's eyes narrowed as she read the first result of her search.

If a faunus is headbutting you, it is possible that you are engaged in a fight. If you are unsure, perform a search for cues. Are you on a battlefield? Are other members of your team present? Are your weapons drawn? Click here to read five more signs that you may be engaged in battle with a faunus.

Well, that was mildly unhelpful. Yang drew a slow breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling quietly. Erasing her search query, she tried again.

Why does my faunus partner press up against me? Pressing enter, Yang's eyes widened before the page even loaded, swiftly realizing the error of her ways. Before she could click the 'back' button, however, the results popped up on her screen.

Here are a few surefire ways you can engage your partner in intimacy by using your body.

Hammering on the 'back' button, Yang cleared the page, hoping against hope that her drowsy partner hadn't taken to screen snooping. There was no response from Blake, however, so Yang surreptitiously repositioned her scroll out of her partner's potential field of view.

Do feline faunus share traits with common housecats?

Yang thought for a moment, then, sure that her query couldn't possibly be misinterpreted in any crude way, pressed 'search'. The results populated swiftly, and she ran her eyes down the list of results.

Faunus of the feline type often share characteristics common to the housecat, including but not limited to: aversion of dogs, dislike of water, startlingly loud noises, disruptions to set schedules, naps, scent-marking, and more.

Yang nodded slowly. Now she was getting somewhere!

Why do cats headbutt people? Yang typed swiftly.

Wondering why your cat headbutts you? There could be a few reasons. One is scent-marking, especially if you've been gone for a while, or return to the home smelling differently than normal. The other is expressing love or affection. This can be accompanied by slow blinking, pawing, kneading, purring, or greeting you at the door, among other things. This is how your cat shows that they trust you.

Yang bit her lip, suppressing a squeal of delight. What were the chances that this was a common trait shared between animals and faunus?

Blake chose that moment to nuzzle against Yang once more, rubbing the spot between her ears against Yang's neck. Her hand briefly tensed up, clutching Yang's thigh, before relaxing into a gentle touch. Hiding her scroll beneath her left thigh, Yang waited until Blake settled down once more before bringing her scroll up to her face. Erasing her search once more, she hesitated a moment before typing in one more question, her burning curiosity getting the best of her.

Why does my feline faunus friend rub her head against me?

Yang's eyes stared at her screen with an intensity usually reserved for her enemies as the search results seemed to be taking a moment longer to load than usual. Mentally cursing her poor connection, the page finally loaded.

If your feline faunus friend is rubbing their head against you, this could be a sign of trust, affection, or -

"Huntresses, prepare for landing."

Yang quickly locked her scroll, tucking it beneath her thigh once more as Blake stirred against her at the sound of pilot's intercom cutting through the droning sound of the Bullhead engines.

As Blake straightened up in her seat, reaching up to rub at her eyes and leaving Yang feeling a little more empty than usual, the blonde was fairly certain that she knew what the rest of the article was going to say, even without looking.

Gazing unabashedly at Blake's beautiful face, framed by her disheveled bob cut, Yang was starting to make sense of the ephemeral, fleeting feelings that tightened her chest and stole her sense of surety.

"Ready to land?" Blake asked, turning toward her partner.

Yang blinked once, then twice. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts of my partner might love me from her mind, she couldn't stop the grin from breaking out across her face.

"What's so funny?" Blake asked, eyebrows furrowing over molten gold, instantly on guard as the blonde's cheeky grin only grew wider.

"Do I have something on my face?" Blake reached up and rubbed at her cheeks, passing a hand over her forehead.

Yang opened her mouth to reply, but, fearing what she might say instead, chose to shake her head. Wordlessly she reached out toward the confused faunus, wrapping the girl in hug and pulling their bodies tightly together.

"Yang?"

The blonde ignored her, not trusting herself to speak. Instead, she pulled Blake's head to her chest, wrapping her arms protectively around her partner even as Blake hesitantly returned the embrace, confusion slowing her movements.

"Yang, are you okay?'

Yang buried her nose in Blake's hair and inhaled deeply as the ship touched down, jolting them both back to reality as Weiss stood up across from them.

"Whatever this is, can you two do it later?" Weiss asked, her voice lacking it's usual sting as she slid by them and moved toward the door. "Your sister is right there."

Pulling away from her partner, Yang found Ruby moving quickly toward the exit, her scythe held up as a shield between herself and the pair.

Blake, now fully awake, shied away from Yang's embrace, wrapping her arms around herself as she glanced bashfully up at her partner.

"You sure you're alright?" The faunus asked, ears dipping flat in concern.

Yang nodded slowly.

"Blake, you wouldn't believe how alright I am."