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Surprisingly enough, unflappable had nothing to do with birds, nor wings. A tad disappointed, Ruby still agreed with Weiss’ sentiment. Blake was easily the calmest person she had ever met, much more level headed than herself, Yang, or even Weiss when it came to missions going wrong, homework due the next day, or anything along those lines.
Unflappable: not easily upset, unusually calm in difficult situations.
That was Blake in a nutshell, Ruby thought as she stared down at her teammate from her position in bed. Weiss had called her that once, or something along those lines when she and Blake had gotten into one of their many arguments. Not knowing what it had meant, Ruby had borrowed one of Weiss’s dictionaries to look it up.
It was a Schnee produced dictionary.
A… Schneectionary, one could say.
Amber eyes caught hers, confused look complete with both a head tilt and arched eyebrow. Ruby supposed she would have also been confused if Blake had started snickering out loud. Flashing the brunette a sunny smile, Ruby flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the faunus to go back to reading… whatever it is that she read.
Scratching her cheek, Ruby hummed thoughtfully. There wasn’t much that upset Blake, now that she thought about it. Other than the usual stuff about faunus rights and occasionally Weiss, she was pretty laid back about everything.
Nonchalant, perhaps.
Who knew the dictionary could be so much fun?
Outside the window, the storm raged on. As it had for a few days, leaving her and the rest of Team RWBY feeling a bit restless. Yang and Weiss moreso than her and Blake, it seemed, as her sister and her partner had all but disappeared to the gym and library respectively. She and Blake were content with staying in the dorm and holding down the fort.
She may or may not have made an actual fort out of her bunk bed…
Above her, the lights flickered. Once. Twice.
And then they were left in darkness.
“Ruby?” Blake’s voice sounded… different. Wobbly, like the strawberry jello from the cafeteria that Ruby liked so much. Only.. Less delicious and more worrisome.
“Yeah Blake?” Even from her bed, she could see the way Blake’s eyes shone, glowing an eerie yellow in the dark.
Lightning cracked outside, illuminating Blake’s face for half a second. She looked drawn and pale, and not in the way Blake normally did. Frowning, Ruby hopped down from her bed and padded across the room to settle down beside Blake. “You okay?”
“Absolutely perfect, why wouldn’t I be?” Blake’s voice was high and thin, showing Ruby that her friend was very much not okay. Reaching out blindly, Ruby finally found Blake’s arm.
Blake was trembling.
A loud BOOM shook the very room they were in, objects rattling on the shelves and Yang’s bed giving a very unnerving creak above them. Worrying her bottom lip, Ruby slid her hand down Blake’s arm to where the faunus had a death grip on her book.
Another flash of lightning saw Blake’s ears pulling back against her scalp, the trembling increasing to where Ruby could feel it travelling up her own arm. Sucking in a deep breath, she whispered, “are you scared?”
“No, of course n-”
The book dropped from Blake’s hands as they flew to her head, thunder rumbling outside. It was silent afterwards, the only noise coming from the rain pattering against the glass and Blake’s harsh breathing. Uncertain of what to do, Ruby could only rub Blake’s arm as she tried to think of what she could do to help, her mind discarding idea after idea.
I could rub her ears – no, she might take that the wrong way. I could.. sing? No… I might scare her even more. Mom used to make cookies, but she’s not here now… Her cookies were the best. Gosh I want cookies- Focus Ruby!
And then an idea hit her. Unclipping her cloak from her shoulders, Ruby flung it over both of their heads. The heavy fabric draped over them both, encasing them in darkness. Within that darkness, Blake’s eyes glowed, disappearing only for a split second with each blink.
“Ruby?”
“It’s okay to be scared, Blake! I’m scared all the time, of like.. clowns, and dad’s cooking, and don’t tell Yang I told you but she’s really scared of spiders! And I’m sure Weiss is afraid of… like... un-doilied tables, or something… but it’s totally okay for you to be scared!” The air grew hotter under the cloak as she rambled, prodding her fingers together. “And I thought ‘hey, maybe if Blake can’t see the lightning then it’ll be okay!’ so, ya know, here... we are… under my cape..”
Perhaps it wasn’t her best idea, but the way Blake’s eyes shone, creasing just the slightest bit that Ruby just knew meant the faunus was smiling, made everything okay. Inching closer to the other girl, Ruby grinned up as their legs touched. It had been a while since they had been alone together.
“Blake?”
“Yeah?”
“I have an idea on how to take your mind off of the storm.” Her heart pounded in her ears, and now she was the one breathing hard. Whether that was because of the storm or the stuffy air trapped under the cape or the fact that Blake was right there, she didn’t know. But Ruby did know what she wanted. “Can I... can I kiss you?”
“Yeah…”
So she did. Resting her palms on Blake’s thighs, Ruby pushed herself up and kissed Blake.
Or tried to. In the darkness, she missed, her lips landing on Blake’s chin instead. Cheeks flaring hot, Ruby mumbled a sorry under her breath even as Blake shook with laughter, nimble fingers reaching out to cup Ruby’s cheek and guide her forward. This time there was no missing, only eager kisses and soft lips brushing against her own. A hand cupped the back of Ruby’s head while another one rested on the small of her back, urging her closer.
It was stifling underneath the cloak, the very air burning up around her. She was sweating, strands of hair plastered to her forehead, and each shared kiss only made Ruby burn hotter. With a gasp, she grabbed the red fabric and ripped it off of them, flinging it to the side. The chilled air hit her like a punch to the gut, goosebumps rising on every inch of skin. Uncaring, Ruby settled back down on top of Blake, eyes already closing as she resumed her previous activities.
The kisses deepened, breathless sighs and urgent whispers drowning out the rain. One of Ruby’s hands threaded through ebony strands as the other one grasped at Blake’s hip. It was all at once too much and not enough, and Ruby needed… more. She needed Blake, she-
BOOM
“Oww!”
Jerking back, Ruby’s hands flew to her mouth where Blake had bit her, blinking back tears. A quick swipe of her tongue had her tasting blood, the metallic tang making her shiver.
Below her, Blake looked positively mortified, yellow eyes wide. “I am so so sorry, Ruby! The thunder, I just, I didn’t mean-”
Pressing a single finger against Blake’s lips (and nearly poking her in the nose), Ruby let out a small giggle. “It’s not a big deal, Blake. I suppose we needed to cool off some. Although…” She pouted, lip jutting out ever so slightly. “If you feel bad, you could always… Kiss it better?”
Amber went round, then creased, a sure sign that Blake was grinning. Ruby shivered at the purr in her voice. “With pleasure.”