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Chapter Text

Weiss gripped the sheets in a tight fist, gritting her teeth and cursing everything from her bed that wouldn't do its job to the night which forced her to be alone with her thoughts. Most of all, cursing her father, and the phone call and emails which had put her so on edge that she couldn't even Sleep without playing them over and over in her head.

An hour later, she was back in the same position with the same problem. Warm milk, chamomile tea, and even a few cookies swiped from Ruby's stash in her stomach. But the drinks, the snacks, and almost half an hour of meditation later... nothing worked. It was enough to drive her to scream in frustration, only held back by the fact that it was about 11pm and the rest of her team was asleep.

She got up from her bed and walked over to her desk, pondering her predicament and weighing the pros and cons of studying literally all night and then passing out from sheer exhaustion during the day, it would be a Saturday after all... But she swiftly shot that idea down, knowing how she would look. A Schnee sleeping in all day like that when she's supposed to be...

And there it was again, the toxic ideas and recent memories returned to haunt her once more. She looked around the room for something to distract her and her eyes caught onto the girl on the bottom bunk sleeping across from her, Yang. Weiss quietly went up to her, looking her over with a jealous eye at how easily she was able to pass out every night.

Not just a shallow nap either, but the sort of deep rest Weiss craved where nothing short of a bomb would waken her.
While Weiss watched, Yang moved a bit, much of her blanket sliding off of her as she lay on her side. Weiss hesitated for a moment before leaning in to pull the covers back onto her teammate when she noticed how incredibly warm that area was.

The other day, when Yang had suddenly hugged her and held on for a bit in spite of her objections, Weiss had noticed how unusually warm Yang was, though not from a fever or anything abnormal. When Weiss had stopped struggling and grudgingly allowed herself to be embraced for lack of any method of escape, it had felt... nice. Strangely relaxing, though she would Never admit to that.

Weiss had been missing the heated beds she always slept in before. Perhaps this could be a substitute? She'd heard of Huntsmen in the cold of her homeland sharing sleeping bags and the like to keep their temperatures from dropping at night, perhaps... She shook herself out of that mindset however and turned away after draping the blanket back over Yang, seeking something else to focus on, a pained look on her face as she admonished herself for even approaching such an awful idea.

...Half an hour later, she was back. Her caution quite eroded at this point, she was ready to try anything to at least feel comfortable, as she'd long since given up on sleeping. Slowly and gingerly, she lifted up one side of the covers and climbed onto the bed. Yang was currently facing away from her which helped her feel a bit bolder in settling in.

Almost immediately after tucking herself in under the covers, she felt snug and warm. She even began to think that this may not be as horrible of an idea as she'd previously believed, or at least that the payoff was worth it. She would lay here for a little while, and then return to her bed or whatever else.

She was about to turn around to face the other way, when Yang turned back over and draped her arm over Weiss. Weiss froze in place, fearing that suddenly getting up from her position could wake her teammate despite her typical deep slumber, but unfortunately that hesitation cost her dearly.

Yang, still very much asleep, felt around with her left arm for a bit before using it to pull Weiss in closer. Her right moved from its position to go under and around her prey, and lastly her leg went over Weiss' body, the unintentional trap complete. Yang tightened her grip more, now pressing Weiss' face into her large chest with no clear method of escape.

Weiss meanwhile was in full panic, not only far closer to her friend than she ever intended to get but was also unable to leave, held in place by one of the physically strongest people in the entire school. Perhaps worst of all, she had her face buried in these unfairly enormous things that Yang so casually flaunted, much to Weiss' secret jealousy.

Weiss tried to wiggle in place, seeking some path to freedom, but this only caused Yang to tighten her grip. At this point, Weiss knew that she was firmly in checkmate. The last thing she needed was to suffocate in these accursed mounds from Yang squeezing her even closer.

All that she could do now, was wait. Wait in the hopes that Yang, in all her tossing and turning, would simply release her smaller prisoner. So Weiss decided to make herself as comfortable as possible in the meantime.

The difficult part of this though was where to put her head. Weiss tried to reach the pillow or the mattress itself, but it was impossible. There was only one place to lie on, and as awkward as it was for her, at least it was soft.

Despite the relative excitement and stimulus of her situation, it wasn't long until she was once again left alone with her thoughts. She naturally feared that dark place in her mind returning to once again haunt her, but... it didn't.

It wasn't too difficult to figure out why either. She wasn't alone, and was being cuddled. Not only that, but the person she was with was Yang. Yang was warmth and courage, and above all Power. Strength too, as Weiss could tell all too easily given the muscular arms holding her.

Yang suddenly mumbled a bit and shifted as if uncomfortable, which Weiss realized after a quick search was likely due to her own arms which were pinned in-between them. It took a moment's hesitation, but she ultimately relented and wrapped them around her teammate, noting with relief that Yang seemed to relax with this.

Now, feeling both warm and safe with terrible thoughts no longer floating through her head, it didn't take long at all for Weiss to drift off to sleep. Forgetting the all too important factor that her cuddle buddy wasn't exactly aware of the arrangement. Nor for that matter were the two other people also in that room.
But when drifting off to blessed unconsciousness, that wasn't exactly on her mind.

The last discernible thought that did appear, was the quiet hope that she could do this again sometime.

Chapter Text

When Blake and Ruby got up the next morning, they did their usual routine, noticing nothing out of the ordinary save for the fact that Weiss' bed was empty. Still, they reasoned that she had simply gotten up even earlier, it was already 9am after all, and shrugged it off before eventually leaving the room and turning off the lights, quite unaware that Weiss was still very much in the room.

Normally Weiss was the sort to wake up rather early, and wasn't a heavy sleeper by any means. But... having spent half the night awake and frustrated, she wasn't exactly in her typical routine. So unfortunately for the heiress, the first one to wake up was Yang.

Yang opened her eyes and knew immediately that something was different, though couldn't quite tell what. It occurred to her quickly though when she tried to stretch her arms and found her right arm pinned under something. Shaking the haze of sleep from her head, she realized that there was someone else in her bed.

Initially wondering if Ruby had gotten lonely and crawled in with her, something she hadn't done in a long time, she instead looked down and found Weiss of all people, fast asleep and cozy as can be. Countless different thoughts went through her mind, but ultimately she couldn't tell what had happened or why Weiss had crawled into her bed. So, she decided to find out.

Noticing that the two other members of Team RWBY were already gone, she got an idea. All she had to do was wake up Weiss while pretending to be asleep, and then watch for her reaction. Yang settled back into place and was about to enact the plan... then looked down at her teammate's sleeping face and realized that if she passed up this chance, she may not get another for a long while.

Yang hugged her close, much as she'd been doing for hours though this time while awake and chuckled a little at the odd situation. For a couple of minutes she simply enjoyed the comfort, but finally decided to execute the plan. She made a rather convincing show of moving Weiss while appearing to be just shifting around in her sleep, and waited. She didn't have to wait long.

Weiss groaned and wakened slowly, her entire being protesting against the very concept of no longer being asleep. Still, it was a protest with little spirit behind it, and she opened her eyes to find relative darkness. Feeling around with her hands, she realized that they were currently wrapped around someone much taller than herself.

Pulling back slightly, she looked up to find herself in the arms, and leg, of none other than Yang. Only now did the events of last night come flooding back, and her mind raced with a mix of fear at being caught and relief at not being caught just yet. Or so she thought.

Doing her best to remain calm, she began the slow process of extracting herself from Yang's embrace. Fortunately it wasn't too difficult, as Yang was more resting her arm on Weiss rather than holding her at the moment.

Finally, Weiss had managed to move far away enough that she was no longer in contact with her teammate. An odd feeling washed over her quite suddenly, the meaning of which was hard to discern, but it almost felt like... regret? As if she wanted to go right back into that warmth and comfort, just for a little longer.

Yang, watching through eyes opened just enough to see, watched as Weiss shifted away and then pause there at the edge of the bed, an expression of regret on her face. It was nearly enough to cause Yang to break her facade and reach out to hug her, to tell her that she had no issue at all with the unexpected skinship and that she was always welcome there.

But, the moment of hesitation passed for them both, and Weiss slipped out from the covers and stood up in a single, hurried motion; meanwhile Yang contented herself with watching her quietly, still having no clear sign of why her normally reserved friend had come to her.

Weiss covered her face with a hand and just stood there for a moment, as if to process all that had happened. She finally shook her head and grabbed a towel from the cabinet, heading off to the bathroom for a shower.

The instant that the door had closed, Yang sat up from her bed, no longer needing to pretend to be asleep. She still had the notion in her mind to talk to Weiss about this immediately, but caution won out.

As reserved as Weiss was, speaking with her right away could just scare her away, no matter how gently she may approach the matter. Yang decided to just wait, and watch Weiss throughout the day to watch for any hint or change that could tell her more.

Yang couldn't have known just then, sitting there while gazing at the place Weiss had spent the night, that the main thought running through her head mirrored one of Weiss'.
The inexplicable, yet very real hope that this wouldn't be the last time.