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Blake woke up with a start, her heart racing as her brain tried to figure out where she was. She was overheated and her long, black hair stuck to her skin with sweat, adding to the overstimulation. As her golden eyes began to adjust to the pitch black room she began to remember where she was. She was in her bed in Team RWBY’s dorm room at Beacon Academy. She took slow, deep and shaky breath as she placed her hand on her chest to feel her racing heart. “Breathe…breathe, damn it. It’s just a bad dream. You’ve had plenty before, just…breathe.” She said softly to herself in the dark room.
Across the room, she could see Ruby in a deep, messy sleep as one arm hung off her top bunk. One wrong move in her sleep and she would certainly fall off her bed. Again. Despite numerous suggestions from her sister Yang to swap with Weiss and sleep on the bottom bunk and MANY threats from Weiss about falling and disrupting her sleep. Yang and Blake both knew Weiss just didn’t want Ruby to get hurt though. Speaking of, under Ruby’s bunk slept Weiss. She was as still as can be and somehow still had the energy of being better than everyone even in her sleep.
Above Blake’s own bunk would be where Yang sleeps, but not tonight because Yang was sleeping next to Blake in her bed. It was something they would occasionally do every now and then. Yang was never opposed to sleeping with someone because she would often sleep with Ruby when she was younger and Blake enjoyed how warm Yang was, especially on colder nights. She would even crawl into Yang’s bed on some cold mornings for a few extra, warm hours of sleep before classes.
When Blake noticed Yang’s presence beside her, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Good…good.” She thought to herself. Slowly, gently she looped her pinky around Yang’s pinky as the blond brawler slept, craving closeness but unsure how to go about it or if Yang would even be comfortable with it. Yes, they shared quite a few dances together during the Beacon dance a few weeks ago. Yes, they have been very, very close lately. And yes, they were also sharing a bed together. All of those things were true, but Blake wasn’t exactly in the right headspace currently.
Slowly, gently, Blake reached over for her Scroll to check the time and try to find something to distract her brain. “Brothers…it’s only 3 in the morning..?” She thought as she looked at the time. Sighing, she began to look for something to read. While she greatly preferred physical copies, Blake didn’t exactly feel like waking up the others by turning on the lights so she could read.
Once settling on something to read and still keeping her pinky lightly wrapped around Yang’s pinky, she finally began to feel herself relax. Even in her sleep, Yang just had a natural, comforting presence about her that just made Blake feel safe. A small smile crept onto her face at the gentle domestic bliss of it all, which was quickly followed by her cheeks turning a very light shade of pink as she shook her head, pushing those thoughts away.
As Blake continued to read, her Faunus cat ears twitched as she heard the subtle sound of someone’s movement followed by a gentle shift of the bed as Yang sleepily sat up. “Mngh..crap, did I wake ya..? Sorry, Blakey..I’ll move back to my bed..” Yang said as she let out a yawn.
“No..!” Blake acted on pure instinct and practically tackled Yang, wrapping her arms around her and getting her to lie back down, much to Yang’s surprise. Her cat ears were pinned back and her face was buried in the crook of Yang’s neck as the realization of what exactly she had just done dawned on her. She pulled back slightly, cheeks bright red but arms still around her.” I-..I’m sorry, I-I just…um..you didn’t wake me up, so don’t leave..okay..?” Blake said softly, trying so hard to not look into Yang’s reasonably surprised lilac eyes.
“Okay, okay...I’m staying. I’m right here, okay?” Yang said softly, her hand resting on Blake’s back and feeling how hot she was. “You okay? You’re overheated…” She said softly as she gently rubbed Blake’s back. “Want me to grab some water?” Blake hesitated, but nodded. Blake let go of Yang so she could get up. “Alright, I’ll be back in just a sec, kitty.” Yang said with her trademarked warm smile. Blake smiled softly at Yang’s silly nicknames for her. She quickly returned with a cup of water for both of them and two cookies. Blake tilted her head as she received both the cup and cookie.
“Shhh, don’t tell Rubes.” Yang whispered with a wink and a finger over her lips. “A cookie would always cheer Ruby up after a bad dream when she was younger. I mean, I guess they still do, but you know what I’m trying to say.” Yang took a seat back on Blake’s bed with her.
“I-..I didn’t have a bad dream…” Blake was stunned by how easily Yang saw right through her. She couldn’t speak up though, Yang has already done too much for her.
“Come on, Blakey. I can read you like a book at this point. I won’t force you, obviously, but y’know…talking helps.” Yang said as she took a bite of her cookie.
“I..I wouldn’t want to wake the others…and I don’t want to bother you more than I already have at this hour. It’s just..nonsense anyway.” Blake said, unable to look Yang in the eyes. “It’s just a dream, it’s not real. I-I barely remember it at this point…”
“Okay, first of all, Ruby would sleep through a horde of Grimm attacking Beacon and Weiss…okay, she’s scary when woken up, but screw it, I’m sure she’ll understand.” This earned an eye roll from Blake, but a smile was on her face. “Second, you’re not bothering me. Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, I wanna do all this for you? If I can help, it would be my pleasure. You’re not a burden or anything like that. You’re my friend, my partner.” Blake’s heart skipped a beat and her ears twitched a bit at that. Blake KNOWS Yang means partners as in partners on Team RWBY, but…it nonetheless had an effect on her.
“And thirdly, dream or not, it still clearly had an effect on you and that matters to me. And you can just tell me what you do remember. It’ll still help to vocalize it. So, if you’re comfortable, I’m all ears.” Yang finished, looking directly at Blake with those warm, caring, sweet lilac eyes that Blake could always get lost in if she stared for too long.
Blake stared down, her fingers were aimlessly and shyly picking away at the deep black nail polish that Weiss had helped her out with a few weeks ago. With a sigh she spoke up. “Like I said, it’s kinda blurry now, but..I do remember one scene vividly. I think we were in a room that was similar to Ozpin’s office and Professor Goodwitch was there too. They were trying to talk you down from something or…just upset with you about something. Like I said, I don’t fully remember now. Anyway, out of nowhere there was an explosion in the office, knocking Ozpin down..then you fought with Professor Goodwitch and..killed her. After that, you began to turn and leave but I tried to stop you by calling out your name or grabbing your shoulder, but you just shrugged me off. I then ran in front of you and got onto the ground and hugged your legs to stop you from leaving, like some child. You stopped and looked down at me with red eyes and brought one of Ember Celica’s gauntlets up to my face and fired it in my face. I..I woke up after that.”
There was a heavy silence that filled the room after that, Blake continued to look downward, unable to meet Yang’s gaze. Clearing her throat and fighting back the tears in her eyes, Blake spoke up again. “Like I said, it’s just a stupid dream. I know you would never do that, I know you would never hurt me. I don’t know why I had that stupid dream.” Despite saying that, Blake had a good idea why she had that kind of dream. It wasn’t the first time she had someone very dear to her change, or someone she thought was very dear to her. She was scared of being betrayed again. She was scared of being hurt again, of putting faith in someone only for them to show their true, ugly, bloody colors. But she knew that Yang wasn’t like that, like him.
Before she could speak or think another word, Yang pulled her into a tight, protective hug without hesitation. One arm around her back, one hand cradling her head. Blake’s golden eyes shot open wide in surprise but in no time at all, her walls began to crumble and she wrapped her arms around Yang in return, practically clinging to her as she finally let the tears fall silently.
For a few minutes, they simply stayed there in silence in each other's arms. Yang would gently rock back and forth with Blake in her arms, just like she would for Ruby when she was younger. She gently ran her fingers through Blake’s hair, doing everything in her power to soothe and calm her. Soon, she spoke up softly. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry you had a dream like that. I..I don’t know everything about your life before coming here, I never wanted to be nosy or bother you, but from everything I do know, you’re probably just..scared about losing this security. This…peace. I mean, I know things aren’t completely peaceful, what with Torchwick and Grimm and so on, but y’know. Peaceful for us. For you.”
Yang gently pulled back to look at Blake properly, one hand naturally coming up to cup her cheek. “That’s the annoying thing with some dreams. They can either be some deep premonition, or just our brains being mean to us.” Yang said with a soft smile. “For what it’s worth though, obviously I would never hurt anyone or you. Unless we’re sparring, I won’t hold back for my beloved partner even in a training match.” Yang teased playfully with a wink.
Blake rolled her eyes and shoved her gently as a gentle laugh escaped her. “Shut up..” She then rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the lingering tears and then rested her hand in her lap. “...Thank you, Yang.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Yang said simply, casually taking Blake’s hands in her own.
“You were here for me. You brought me water and a cookie. You listened to me without judgement. You’re always here for me…for all of us. You do so much for us without even trying. I find that absolutely remarkable about you, Yang. I hope I can do the same for you when you need me. I want to be there for you like you were here for me.” Blake finished, looking directly into those beautiful lilac eyes.
Yang was speechless. Her cheeks flushed red as she looked around shyly, suddenly having a hard time making eye contact with Blake. “I- Uh…um..eheh..” A shy chuckle escaped her as she ran a hand through her disheveled, golden locks. ”T-talk about cat got your tongue, huh..?” Blake simply continued to stare at Yang with all the silent affection in the world.
After regaining her composure, Yang spoke up. “Thank you, Blake. You’ve already done lots for me too. Just..being able to be with you is incredible.”
A warm smile was on Blake’s face. “Wanna try and get some more sleep together?”
Yang nodded and smiled back at Blake, a pink tint still coating her cheeks. “Yeah, sounds good to me Blakey.”
With that they both laid back down in bed together. Blake laid on her side, hugging an extra pillow for comfort while Yang laid down behind her, one arm gently around her waist and pulling Blake a little more snug against her own body. “Is this..okay..?” Yang asked softly, not wanting to push any boundaries. Blake simply nodded and relaxed fully against Yang with a content sigh. “Oh, um..probably weird timing for this, but..I like your nails. Weiss did a good job with them. The color really suits you.” Yang said softly before a soft chuckle escaped her. “They go great with your bow.” Yang joked, reminding them of their first awkward meeting.
“You flatter me.” Blake said softly, a sweet chuckle escaping her. “I’ll see you in the morning, Yang. Thank you again.”
“Of course, Blake. It’s my pleasure.” With that, Yang gave Blake a gentle squeeze as they closed their eyes to get a few more hours of sleep.
“Sweet dreams, Blake.”
Across the room, a half awake Weiss muttered to herself as she rolled over to try and get more sleep as well. "Just kiss already..."