DISCLAIMER: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth.

title: Cold
by: The Rose in Death's Garden
written for: Lamia's Title Competition
prompt: title must be one word
pairing: Ironwitch

Glynda crossed her arms over her chest and let out an annoyed sigh.

Of all the people I could have possibly ended up trapped in a cave with, WHY did it have to be General Ironwood?

Unfortunately, the area was so thick with Grimm that staying put seemed to be their safest option, until the other Huntsmen and Huntresses cleared out this sector of the forest.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She remained stubbornly silent for a few long moments before admitting: "I'm cold."

The standard advice for such situations was to huddle together for warmth, but snuggling a robot wasn't very likely to produce the desired results.

Ironwood, ever the gentleman, took his coat off and held it out to her. Glynda just stared for a few moments before finally reaching out to take it from him. She noticed as she wrapped the coat around her shoulders that there was very little lingering warmth clinging to the garment. The half that had rested directly over his robotic parts was distinctly cooler.

Glynda's obvious reluctance to suggest the officially-recommended solution made Ironwood hesitant to offer it as a possibility.

"You know," he began awkwardly. "I do have enough body heat to make it worth sharing." After a brief awkward pause, he added: "I didn't mean that how it sounded."

Glynda snorted, choking back laughter. This man was the leader of both an army and a Huntsmen's academy, but get him alone and he turned into such an awkward dork!

I really shouldn't be laughing at him.

Although she was laughing more at the absurdity of the situation itself, she didn't want to hurt his feelings. One look at his expression told her that yes he did seem offended by her laughter.

"Sorry," she said with a sigh, and stepped closer to him. She struggled to think of what to say next. While she wanted to make some verbal acknowledgement of what they were agreeing to do, saying 'Yes, let's cuddle' seemed too childish while saying 'Hold me' would be too intimate.

In the end, Glynda said nothing and just slowly moved closer to Ironwood until she was near enough to lean against his side. He stiffened, seeming startled at first by the sudden contact. But after a moment he relaxed and put his arm around her shoulders, gently drawing her closer.

They were still in that position when they were found an hour later.