The thunder rumbled through everything – the floor, the walls, even the very air itself.
Even with the shades drawn and mostly closed, it was hard to believe that it was late afternoon. The sky outside was almost black.
Wind gusts were reported to be higher than anything Vale had seen for almost a decade, but from what Weiss had looked up, they were in no real danger. In fact, there was no place on Remnant safer than Vale during a major storm. The revised building codes made sure of that.
A muffled voice came from the bunk to her side, "Weiss… are they back yet?"
"No, Ruby… and it doesn't look like they're going to make it back before the storm really picks up."
A distressed moan. What was she worried about?
It had been close to ten years since the kingdom of Vale had seen a hurricane. Most residents hadn't even heard of such a thing. These were storms that were much bigger and more powerful than the average thunderstorm – they were fully capable of destroying more small towns than even an army of Grimm could.
And they were purely forces of nature. There was no way to drive them off.
Weiss' scroll beeped with a text. She read it, then sighed. "It looks like they're stuck in the city for now. All transports out of the city have been grounded until the all-clear sounds. Might be a few days."
Now the noise was closer to full-on crying.
"Ruby, what is your– "
A flash of light was the only warning. A bolt of lighting struck very close by, probably somewhere on campus, causing the windows to rattle in their frames from the thunderous noise. The lights blinked out a moment later.
Ruby Rose gave a desperate shriek, crying all the louder from underneath her comforter-shield.
Slowly Weiss' mind made the connection. "Are you… afraid of thunder… Ruby?"
She didn't answer with words, but the area where her head was gave a nod. The whimpering didn't stop.
"And you want Yang back so she can keep you safe, …right?"
Another nod. The body under the covers began slowly rocking back and forth, as though trying to rock herself to sleep.
Weiss simply sighed. It was amazing how this girl could be oddly mature and strong one moment, only to suddenly fall into a really childish side the next. Who was still afraid of thunder at 15 years old?
She slowly walked up next to Ruby's bunk and said, in the gentlest voice she could manage, "Would you feel better sleeping with me tonight?"
Ruby jerked a bit, then whipped her head out from under the blanket. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she still looked shocked. "I, I don't… but wouldn't that… are you sure?"
"Well," the heiress clicked her tongue as she considered, "…either I can stay awake listening to your whining all night or I can do my part and help you actually get to sleep. Not a hard choice, I'd say."
The redhead's face dropped with shame, "But I… I don't wanna keep you awake…"
"Then you will sleep with me tonight. End of discussion." She quickly leaned away from the bed, then headed for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on the power issue."
The electronic door lock gave no resistance, what with there being no power and all. Weiss silently slipped out of the room, letting the distant echo of hallway traffic leak through for only a second before silence returned.
Ruby faced the door and said, still quietly, "Thanks, Weiss."
…
Ruby Rose had always hated thunder. Yang had always been there to keep her safe during the storms. Now it was Weiss' turn to be the big sister, and she didn't seem terribly happy about it.
The backup generator for the dormitory building was working, but it had only been connected to the air conditioning units. The lights, outlets, door locks, and other small electrical utilities would be out of order for a day or two. In other words, cold air but no lights.
Ruby had been through worse than that.
It took Weiss nearly 20 minutes to explain how the dorm was built to handle a truly insane level of wind and storm damage. In fact, every building in the city was built to the same standards. Not only were Weiss and Ruby safe, but Yang and Blake would be just as safe over in the city. They had texted again saying they'd snagged a hotel room until they could get back.
The thunder had not died down by the time the two teens tucked themselves in. Weiss knew she was likely in for a long night.
…
"Weiss… you awake?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Sorry… um, could I… uh… that is…"
"What?"
"Can I …scoot a bit closer?"
Another sigh. She'd been doing that a lot lately. "Yes, Ruby. You can scoot closer."
"Sorry… and thanks."
"Your feet are cold."
"Like you're one to talk…"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well I'm not the one everyone calls Ice Queen."
"You're 'bout to get your butt kicked by the Ice Queen…"
"Ooh, so scary…"
"Should I go and find some half-melted ice from the fridge? Make you the 'ice queen?'"
"…"
"…"
"…Sorry."
"Don't be. I'm not mad."
"Well you sound mad."
"I always sound mad. Haven't you noticed that by now?"
"Well I just… meep! Wh-wh-why did you roll over…?"
"Dummy. You won't calm down unless we're like this… will you?"
"Uh… ah… you really don't have to… do this…"
"It's my choice. Go to sleep, Ruby."
"A-wa-wa-wa… I don't know if I can… this is too close…"
"…"
"…Weiss?"
"…"
"…You're seriously asleep?"
"…"
"…Mmm!… fine…"
Which is how Ruby found herself wrapped in the arms of a sleeping Weiss Schnee, alone in their dorm room, with only the raging storm outside for background noise.
The redhead settled herself deeper into Weiss' arms, no longer paying any attention to the rumbling outside. The warmth slowly spread throughout her body, stilling the trembling that began at the first thunderclap earlier in the day.
Before falling asleep herself, Ruby thought You know… I could get used to this…
…
…
Two figures watched the storm through the window of their hotel room.
"You worried about Ruby?"
"Nah… Weiss'll take care of her…"
"So you trust them together now?"
"Mostly. I already knew Ice Queen's had a soft spot for Ruby for quite some time now. This was the 'purr'-fect time to let them be alone… heh…"
"I swear… one of these days I will find the part of your brain making those puns and just rip it out…"
"Uh-huh… If you really hated them, you wouldn't have waited this long."
"…"
*Yawns* "You know, we should probably get some sleep before – MMPH! Mmm…"
"…Mmm…"
"Mmm… Pah! Hah… Hah… Whoa, what was that for?"
"Is 'sleep' really what you want right now, Yang Xiao Long?"
"Well… not when you put it like that… me-ow!"
"…"
"…"
"You know… you should probably put a shirt on. If someone walked in here right now…"
"…I'd punch 'em in the face. What… you jealous or somethin'?"
"I just don't want anyone else to see them."
"Well the storm did knock out the power… lucky you."
"Get over here, you… Mmm…"
…
…
…
Author's Note: So here we have a short little story featuring the ever-so-popular pairings of White Rose and Bumblebee. I mostly wrote this to try my hand at making scenes entirely (or at least mostly) out of just dialogue. It's really more of an experiment, and I'd love to hear from you about it. How'd you like it? Good? Bad? Meh?