"She let out a whimper as she crept backwards," Nora intoned, a flashlight raised under her chin to illuminate her in the darkness. "What could this creature possibly be? What fate was in store for the little girl? Why oh why did she ever leave her nice, warm home on that dark and stormy night?"
Ruby let out a whimper of her own as she pulled tighter on the ends of her cloak, subsequently pulling both Blake and Pyrrha closer in towards her where they sat on the log around the campfire along with the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR.
"Slowly the creature approached, ever so slowly it pulled back its hood to reveal the awful truth…" Nora's deadly whisper suddenly escalated into a vicious shout. "IT WAS WEARING HER FACE!"
"Eep!" Ruby wailed, burying her head in her hood.
"It's all right, little rose," Pyrrha chuckled, tightening her arm around the petite girl. "Story's over now."
"That was indeed a good one, Nora," Blake congratulated her.
"Thanks, Blake!" the orange-haired girl chirped.
"Whelp, time for bed, you guys," Yang sighed, kicking some dirt on the fire. "We gotta head back to Beacon in the morning."
As hunters in training, they spent quite a bit of time outdoors on missions and the like, but rarely did they have the time to do so recreationally. To the north of Vale was a small patch of woodland that was kept blissfully free of Grimm, but the terrain was too rocky and hilly for any sort of settlement. Instead, it served as a place to camp without worrying about the creatures for a change.
And the early spring weather was perfect for camping outdoors, still crisply cool in the evenings to warrant a campfire.
Of course, being as they were hunters-in-training, they still carried their assorted weaponry on them. Any errant Grimm that somehow wandered into the safe zone would be quickly disabused of the notion of an easy victim.
The eight of them said their good nights, Nora and Ren heading into one tent, Jaune into another, and Yang and Weiss into one more. Ruby was the first to slip through their tent's opening, looking about the small space anxiously before relaxing somewhat.
"The sleeping bag arrangement is rather ingenious," Pyrrha complimented.
"Thank you," Blake replied warmly. "I found the idea on a camping site for, er, couples."
"Well, I believe that would certainly apply to us," the redhead added with a slight blush.
Blake had unzipped a pair of sleeping bags, laying them open and then zipping the pair of them together, forming one extra-wide-sized bag for the three of them to share.
"Um, guys?" Ruby interjected worriedly as she slipped her cloak off to reveal her sweatpants and tee shirt. "Can I… ask a favor?"
"Certainly, Ruby, what is it?" the redhead replied.
"Um… I don't wanna be the little spoon tonight," the brunette mumbled, her eyes downcast. "Can I be in the middle?"
"Of course you can," Blake smiled. Pyrrha nodded, slipping into the bag first and scooting all the way over. Blake took Ruby's hand and led her over next to slide in against Pyrrha's back, with the Faunus girl following, zipping the bag up after she'd settled in.
Ruby snuggled into the press of her girlfriends' warm bodies. She always marveled, even though they'd been sharing a bed for a couple of weeks now, how different each of her girlfriends were. Blake was all soft curves with underlying steel, whereas Pyrrha's toned body was strength personified, though undeniably feminine. The smaller girl tried to relax and forget the ghost stories they'd been telling, instead trying to concentrate on the feeling of Pyrrha's bosom pressing against her back, something she rarely got to experience at night. And then her arm draped across Blake's waist, molding her soft body against her…
She wasn't a little girl to be scared by foolish things like ghost stories anymore. She had two undeniably wonderful and gorgeous girlfriends, and lying like this with them she could entertain thoughts of things that were decidedly non-childlike. She felt a small blush spread across her cheeks as she let her imagination run down paths that she knew they weren't ready to broach anytime soon, but were highly enjoyable to entertain in her own head well enough.
But then the brunette tensed up as the wind moaned outside, sending the tree branches to rustling overhead.
Pyrrha tightened her arm around Ruby. "It's all right, little rose," she murmured. "They were just stories."
"I know, Pyrrha," she sighed disconcertedly. "It's just… ugh."
Blake tilted her head backwards. "What's wrong?"
"It's… stupid. I've always been this way, scared of stupid stuff like this, whenever me an' Yang would stay up late and tell stories… They were fun to listen to and to talk about, but then I could never get to sleep. I'd have to run into Yang's bed like a little girl…"
"Ruby, you are not a child for being afraid of ghost stories," Pyrrha reassured her. "Nor is it childlike to seek comfort."
Blake shuffled around in the sleeping bag until she was facing Ruby, her amber eyes glowing in the dark and her Faunus ears just barely visible poking out over her head. "Especially when we are here to give you comfort." She reached up with a hand to cup Ruby's cheek. "Unless perhaps you'd like something to take your mind off of things?"
Ruby's brow furrowed. "Something like… Oh!" She grinned as Blake rolled her eyes and leaned in to press a quick kiss to her lips. "Well, if you're offering," the brunette murmured.
Her girlfriends certainly did a good job keeping her distracted. With Blake kissing her arduously, their tongues dancing around enough to send warmth spreading throughout her body, and Pyrrha behind her stroking her side and giving small kisses of her own along her neckline and shoulder, she quickly relaxed and let her mind go blank.
Until, that is, a low voice moaned outside the tent.
"Ruuubyyyy…."
The petite brunette sat upright with a terrified squeak. It was here, the monster had found her and was gonna eat her and then wear her face…
"NORA!" both Blake and Pyrrha exclaimed crossly.
Oh, right. Or it could just be Nora being her usual self.
Ren's apologetic voice sounded next as he audibly dragged the giggling Nora back to their tent. "Sorry, she got ahead of me returning from the restrooms."
"Good night you two," Pyrrha sighed loudly. "Again."
Ruby laid back down, her breathing once again under control. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"It's fine," the redhead assured her.
"Though you came close to biting off the end of my tongue," Blake grumbled mildly.
"Oh no!" Ruby exclaimed with a grin as she turned her way. "Here, lemme kiss it and make it better…"
"Oh, much smoother," Pyrrha snickered. "I think that gets an 'A' for both effort and delivery."
"I do aim to do my best," Ruby laughed, pressing another kiss into the giggling Faunus girl in her arms.
Several noises sounded in succession then. First, there was the sudden sound of a large tree branch falling onto the roof of their tent, closely followed by a startled shriek of terror, and on the heels of that, the mechanical clack of Crescent Rose being deployed.
And that is how they lost the upper half of their tent that evening.
A/N: Another early morning what-the-hell-am-I-doing-awake story. Too much fun not to jot down, however. Next chapter will be a little different, from the perspective of someone outside of Purruby or Yang or Weiss...
THB4: Yep, the third team playing Grimm Bingo was Jaune, Yang, and Weiss. You can imagine how well the three of them worked together (not). And as far as the food fight, or exchange students, or Vytal… this crack story exists outside of the RWBY timeline. No assumptions are made outside of the ones given in the first chapter, and no outside plot shall affect this threesome. The fluff shall not be constrained!
Boarador: Thanks! Kinda feel the same way about this one, too!
growlscout: Welcome back! Yeah those sloth assassins are masters of stealth… never see 'em coming…
SamuraiShippo: Seriously, we need to start a petition or something to get Grimm Bingo into the RWBY canon.
TacoKing23: I was about to be impressed with the quick catch-up, but then I remembered the shorter chapters in this story… Still, glad to have you back! Really appreciate the comments regarding characterization, I'm trying hard to keep them as authentic as possible to how they might behave, though keeping in mind their situation has now changed and all. And hey, anytime I question the plausibility of goofiness, I remember the food fight.
guest21: Thanks, glad to hear my fluffy attempts at cute and sweet have been successful!
Stay shiny!