The first part of this initially began as just a simple Pollination drabble for Tom, but then I was asked to expand it for a commission so... well here it is! Long enough to be its own oneshot now!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

To Keep Me Warm At Night

Chapter 1.

It wasn't the first time Yang had snored herself awake.

The first thing she heard was a groan climbing scratchily up her own throat.

The first thing she tasted was the dull staleness of her morning breath.

The first thing she remembered was that it was a Sunday morning, and she didn't have to get up for any particular reason.

The first thing she smelled was the citrusy scent of her own hair, which was normal.

But the first thing she felt wasn't so normal.

She was warm.

Really warm.

Much warmer than she usually was, even given the nature of her semblance.

Which led her to discover the first thing she saw that morning.

She blinked groggily, waiting for her hazy vision to come into focus.

And the first thing she saw was-

Black.

At first, she thought she'd been so tired she'd forgotten to actually open her eyes. But when she waited a second and looked harder, everything started to make sense.

Well… sort of.

For whatever reason, Blake was there. Lying on top of her. Curled up and fast asleep, comfortable and carefree.

Clearly, she'd been there for quite some time.

Only now did Yang register the pressure of her partner's weight on her chest. With a sigh, she attempted to move her arms around Blake's back so she could roll her off to one side.

At least, she would've liked to do that.

But neither of her arms would move.

Tilting her head, she discovered Ruby clinging loosely to her left arm, snuggling close with her hands wrapped around her elder sister in a hug that had no doubt been constricting several hours ago. She was drooling slightly and mumbling a bit in her sleep.

To her other side was Weiss, much quieter in her slumber. She was pressed close to Yang's side with her cheek resting on the brawler's shoulder.

Yang recalled her teammates had been complaining a bit last night about the cold, but she never expected they'd be so desperate as to sneak into her bed for warmth.

"I am the portable team heater I guess…"

When she tried to shift her head again, she felt that one last guest had curled up above her head on her pillow. Zwei snoozed there, and she just prayed he wasn't drooling in her hair.

They were a tangled mess of hair and clothes and limbs, breathing and snoring and huddling for warmth.

But it was Sunday, and Yang found she couldn't care less.

With a smile, she pulled them all a little closer as best she could, and closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

Weakened by the cold, they'd ended up sleeping in much the same manner that Sunday night.

But in contrast to the peaceful, warm slumber the team had shared the last few evenings, the following Monday morning was a bit of a disaster.

The blaring alarm sounds startled them all awake, and Zwei was barking within seconds, which caused Blake to panic and roll off of Yang onto Weiss, who started yelling, and then Ruby started complaining everything was too loud.

"Guuuuys!" she whined, clinging to Yang and trying not to fall over the edge. "Keep it down! It's still so earlyyyy..."

"Oh," Weiss scoffed from beneath Blake. "Says the girl who woke me up the first day by blowing a whistle in my ear!"

"Yang, could you please shut your dog up?" Blake pleaded, covering her ears and crushing Weiss further into the mattress.

"I think you all need to shut up," the blonde grunted. There was a hint of warning in her tone that all of them – even Zwei – caught, and immediately the room was quiet once again. "Good," she sighed. "Now let's all try to get down without collapsing the bed or getting any limbs broken."

First, she instructed Ruby to release her clinging death grip and held onto her little sister's hands until her feet had touched the floor.

Blake went next, jumping with agile precision, even first thing in the morning.

From there, she helped spot Weiss' back from the floor as Yang guided her down from up high.

After that, Yang handed Zwei to Ruby and then hopped down herself.

"Well, I hope you all enjoyed last night too, and were able to keep nice and warm. We should probably get going to class now." She picked up her uniform and took her leave into the bathroom first, leaving the other three to share fretful glances with one another.

Weiss bit her lip slightly.

"We didn't upset her, did we?"

Blake's ears flattened a little.

"I'm not sure..."

But Ruby did her best to reassure them both.

"Don't worry! I don't think she's upset! Probably just cranky and tired."

But even so, as they went about their classes that day, the three of them couldn't help but feel a little guilty. They didn't want Yang to feel as though they'd used her. While leeching her natural warmth on a chilly night may have been the initial intention, it certainly hadn't been the reason they'd stayed so long and slept so soundly.

By the end of the day, they were all feeling guilty, worried Yang might be taking things the wrong way.

It was getting cold again that evening as they were all dressing into their sleep clothes and preparing for bed, but none of them complained about the chill. They didn't want to make Yang feel guilted into inviting them to her bed to stay warm or anything like that.

But even so, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were all nearly bursting with pent-up concern by now, concern that Yang was upset with them for the last two nights.

Ruby hadn't even climbed up into her own bed yet before she caved and started wailing.

"Yaaaang!" She ran to her sister and threw her arms around her. "I'm sorry if we made you feel bad last night! We're all sorry!"

"Huh?" Baffled, she tried to register what was happening as she returned Ruby's hug. "Ruby, what are you-"

"She's right," Weiss admitted. "We didn't want you to feel as though the only reason we'd all ended up with you last night was solely because it was warmer there."

"Right," Blake added. "It wasn't only the warmth. But... we all really enjoyed it, too. Right?"

Ruby vigorously banged her head up and down against Yang's shoulder as Weiss nodded more shyly.

"So please, Yang!" Ruby begged her. "Don't just think we were using you for warmth! We love you more than that!"

By now, the blonde was finally beginning to understand what had been upsetting them all today. As soon as she realized it was something as trivial as this, she began to chuckle.

"Aw, you guys are too sweet! To be honest, I was a little worried for a minute that all you cared about was keepin' warm. Thanks for tellin' me otherwise. C'mere!"

She kept Ruby clinging around her neck and reached out her arms to gather the other two girls to her sides in partial hugs. Blake let out a soft purr, and even Weiss closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling for a moment.

Once it was over, Yang released them, and immediately they missed the shared warmth of their teammates. But they all promised themselves to try and sleep in their own beds tonight.

Ruby and Yang clambered up to their respective beds while Blake and Weiss laid down beneath them. Zwei hopped up to sleep at the foot of Weiss' bed, curling up on her ankles once she'd settled.

Blake turned off the bedside lamp, and after goodnight wishes were exchanged, silence crept into the room.

But it was even chillier tonight than it had been last night or the night before.

Ruby rolled herself up in her blankets as tightly as possible, but it was just no use. Even though she'd worn her warmest pajama pants and a sweater and fuzzy socks to bed, she was still too cold to sleep.

It wasn't long before she hopped down with a blanket still over her shoulders, and tiptoed across the room. She tapped on the side of Yang's bed and called out to her.

"Yang?"

Yang had been expecting this, honestly. She rolled over and peered down at her sister.

"What's up? Cold?"

Ruby nodded guiltily.

"Can I sleep with you...?"

Yang's lips broke out into a grin.

"Course ya can. Come on up."

She helped Ruby onto the mattress and helped her slip beneath Yang's blankets as well. She draped an arm around her little sister's back to keep her close.

Ruby snuggled up to her sister's side, smiling and sighing blissfully as warmth flooded over her at last.

Of course, the cold had kept Blake up all this time as well, and she'd witnessed the entire thing.

She just couldn't take this chill. She'd never catch a wink of sleep tonight if she was alone.

So she caved as well, sitting up in bed and rapping lightly on the underside of her partner's bed.

"Yang...?"

A pause.

Then...

"What's up, Blake?"

Her ears flicked and drooped again.

"I'm sorry. I don't want you to think I'm only asking because of how cold it is. I did enjoy being with you all last night. It was really nice. And-"

"I get it," Yang whispered reassuringly. "Just get up here before you freeze over."

Blake didn't need any more invitation than that. She scrambled out of bed and left her cold mattress behind for Yang's.

Ruby giggled a bit as Blake joined them.

"You just can't beat Yang's snuggly warmth!"

"Nope!" her sister agreed. "And I'm glad I can share it with you guys~"

Blake laid down on her partner's other side and looped an arm around her stomach. Beneath those blankets, it was like curling up beside a fireplace on a cold winter evening.

The three of them might've fallen asleep right away, if not for the sense that something was missing.

Even though the rest of them had promised themselves and Yang to try and sleep in their own beds, it was simply too cold for such pride tonight.

But of course, if anyone had a stubborn amount of pride in this room, it was Weiss Schnee.

She'd heard Ruby and Blake give in to temptation already, but she refused to go back on her word so easily.

She didn't need them to keep warm.

No, wait. That was probably a lie.

But she didn't need to be warm in order to sleep. She'd slept many nights of many years cold and alone in her bed before. She could do it again.

But... did she really have to?

She had this wonderful, loving team now. Shouldn't she accept their friendship as much as she possibly could?

No. I don't need it. I don't want to feel as though I'm taking advantage of their kindness...

She flipped herself over defiantly and clung tighter to her blankets.

But the action roused Zwei at her feet, causing him to jump off her bed. The measly warmth he left behind on her ankles vanished quickly, leaving Weiss to shiver.

Reluctantly, she looked back over her shoulder just to see what the corgi would do.

He circled on the floor a bit, then crouched down, gathering himself for a mighty jump. He landed perfectly atop Yang's pillow, not even touching so much as a single strand of her hair in the process.

Weiss heard both sisters coo welcomes to him, and she huffed to herself.

She wasn't so weak as to give in.

...Was she?

No. Absolutely not.

She could feel herself shivering harder than before, but she tried to ignore it.

But there were three other people who had noticed, and simply couldn't let it slide.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang all called out to her in turn.

"Weiss-"

"It's alright-"

"Come over here."

Mortified that they'd called her out on it, Weiss refused to move for a moment longer.

But then she remembered how she'd felt last night with them all.

It wasn't just warmth. It was safety. Acceptance.

She failed to think of anywhere else where she'd have all three.

So at long last, nearly an hour after the others had caved, at 11:48PM, Weiss Schnee gave in as well.

Exhausted and cold, she left her bed behind and limped over to Yang's.

The others welcomed her with open arms. Literally.

As soon as Ruby had taken her hand and helped her carefully climb up and over, Weiss brought up her protest.

"Never mind. There's not enough room-"

"Course there is!" Yang insisted. "You and Blake just switch from what you did last night. Here." She took Weiss' wrist and guided her over Ruby, then pulled the heiress onto herself.

Weiss squeaked as she nearly slid off of Yang and rolled down the other side, but Blake was there and ready to gently push her back into place. Weiss was as stiff as a board as she lay there on top of Yang now, with their faces just inches apart.

The blonde couldn't help but tease her.

"Aw, don't be shy, Weiss! I know this is a little intimate, but it's not like there's anything I've never felt before-"

"Yang-"

"Don't tease her-"

"Enough!" Weiss quickly silenced her with a flick to the forehead. "Whatever! Since we're all here now, let's just go to sleep! Please!"

She heard Ruby and Blake chuckle into Yang's shoulders, but tried to ignore them.

"Alright, you heard her," Yang grinned. "Weiss is right, we should rest up now."

"Thank you," she huffed.

From there, they all began to settle down.

Yang slung an arm around Ruby and the other around Blake, who each put and arm around Weiss. Zwei curled close to Yang's head and nestled into her pillow.

Despite the awkward position she found herself in, Weiss eventually started to relax. With Ruby's fingers absentmindedly tickling her back, Blake's rubbing softly in contrast, and Yang's bountiful warmth pressing all along her stomach and chest, it was impossible for Weiss to maintain her rigidness.

The shivers died away before long, and eventually, everyone had adjusted themselves and the blankets just right. They said their goodnights again.

"Mm, night, guys~"

"Goodnight."

"Sleep well."

"Sweet dreams."

Ruby rested her cheek on the front of Yang's shoulder, and Blake did the same on her other side. Weiss gingerly laid her head on Yang's collar and closed her eyes.

Yang knew they all felt a little guilty about sleeping with her for her warmth, but they all knew there was more to it than that.

Besides, this was probably one of the few times Yang had ever been so extraordinarily happy. She had three of the people (and one dog) she cared for most in the world beside her.

And the books supporting the bed were sturdy enough to ensure they were all relatively safe to stay this way until dawn. They probably wouldn't fall and crash, but if they did, they'd do it together.

But in all honesty, Yang was happy just to know the rest of them felt the same.

Before she could fall asleep, Yang made sure to show her love one last time.

Leaning to her side, she first kissed Ruby's forehead, then shifted over to kiss Blake. She then kissed the top of Weiss' head delicately before resting her head back on her pillow.

And since they'd all caved and were sharing Yang's bed, the others felt it was only fair to return the favor.

Ruby kissed her sister's cheek affectionately, and Blake took care of the other cheek. Weiss made quick work of kissing Yang's nose, then hiding her face once again.

They slept deeply and comfortably that night, with smiles on their lips, and gentle, kindling flames in their hearts.

A/N: The title is a reference to a little song they sing at the summer camp where I work. The song is called Forty Years on an Iceberg, and the rhyme eventually goes to a line "I had to hug a polar bear to keep me warm at night" and it's my favorite song for the camp and just super cute in general so here it is as a title of a cuddle fic!

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