Three Letter Word - Bumblebee Oneshot (Patreon)

Humming a soft tune to herself, Yang walked into the front entryway and pulled open the hallway closet to find a pair of shoes.  

“Hey Blake?”

“Shhh.”

Yang froze on instinct - because that’s what one should do when they were shushed so vigorously.  Carefully peeking around the closet door into the living room, she chuckled when she found Blake curled up on the sofa reading a book.  At least, normal people would call it reading, but what Blake did was more of a professional sport of sorts.  Her eyes were as intent as world famous athletes waiting for the next pitch or throw or whatever it was that was headed their way.

Another way to describe it was similar to a hunter intently stalking its prey.  But...Yang preferred not to think that Blake was looking at a book like that.  If anyone was going to be hunted in this house, it would be Yang.  Because man did she ever love when those amber eyes followed her hungrily around a room…

Grabbing the closest pair of shoes before her mind completely devolved, she quietly slipped them on before heading into the living room.

“Hey,” she said - again, quiet was the key to survival here.  “So, uh, we should probably get going if we’re going to make dinner on time…”

A soft “hmm” was her response as Blake flipped the page and kept reading.  Yang waited until the next page turned before adding, “If Weiss is gonna yell at us for being late again, I’d like it to be for a reason we’re both involved in - if you know what I mean.”

She threw in a wink at the end of that sentence even though Blake was still focused on the book in her hands.  But that didn’t matter - Blake knew that Yang winked without even seeing it.  That much was evident by the way she sighed and finally lowered the book to her lap - not closing it, just lowering it.

“I’m really close to the end,” she said, as if that should answer everything.

“The end of the chapter?” Yang asked, sitting by Blake’s side.  “So...what?  You need a couple minutes?”

“No, the end,” Blake explained.  When Blake held up the book, Yang looked at the stack of pages left on the right side of the binding and laughed.

It had been established long ago that Blake’s definition of ‘close’ was really different from Yang’s.  ‘Close’ meant a couple of minutes, a couple of pages, a couple of inches.  ‘Close’ did not mean a hundred pages and a solid hour of reading later.

“But Blake…”

“Why don’t you go ahead without me?” Blake suggested.  “I’ll head over when I’m finished.”

“Uh...but how will you get there if I take the car?”

“I’ll walk.”  When Yang raised her brow in surprise, Blake sighed.  “It’s not that far, Yang.”

An alarm was sounding in Yang’s head, letting her know that she needed to resolve this quickly before Blake grew a bit...testy...at being kept away from the story for so long.

“How about you come with me?” Yang countered, pressing forward when she saw the immediate ‘no’ in Blake’s eyes.  “I’ll drive us over there and you can stay in the car until you’re finished reading.  That way you’ll at least be there.  Just...not in the house.”

She knew she had a winning idea when Blake thought about it.  Because in reading mode Blake hardly thought about anything other than what was written on the pages in her hands.

“Fine.”  Before Yang could celebrate, Blake shot her a look.  “If you don’t talk the whole way there.”

Grinning in success, Yang drew an ‘x’ across her chest before holding up two fingers in a ‘scout’s honor’ gesture.  Satisfied with the response, Blake finally closed the book and stood up from the couch with Yang following close behind.  

Rushing ahead to the closet, Yang pulled out Blake’s favorite pair of shoes and silently handed them over - earning herself a smile for the effort.  When Blake was ready to leave, Yang stopped by the front door and motioned to her cheek before opening it.  Rolling her eyes, Blake leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Yang’s cheek.

Or she would have, but Yang turned at the last second and caught Blake’s lips with her own instead.

Giggling happily at the kiss (giggling wasn’t technically ‘talking’), Yang pulled open the door and gestured Blake outside.  They’d hardly made it off the front stoop before Blake had her nose buried in the book again, walking to the car on autopilot and fumbling slightly with the handle before getting inside.

Biting her tongue (even though she so badly wanted to say ‘hard to find that handle without looking, huh?’), Yang hopped into the seat next to Blake and set them on their way.  The radio turned on as soon as the car did, but Yang quickly turned it off - leaving them in complete silence broken only the sounds of the engine and street noises outside.

Shooting quick glances to the passenger seat, Yang smiled at the sight.  Blake was back in her reading mode, her gaze determined as it flew from one word to the next before reaching the end of the page.  Turning it over, she started the process again.  And again.  And again.

Seriously, if there was a competition for reading, Blake would win it.  She’d win all of them.  It wouldn’t even be a competition - that’s how good she was at reading!

And Yang would gladly go to each and every competition to watch her smokin’ hot girlfriend smoke the other pitiful readers.  She’d cheer super loud and get thrown out, most likely, but it would totally be worth it.

Drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, Yang shot about a hundred quick glances towards Blake in a few minutes.  It was so hard to sit in silence and not talk!  Especially when Blake looked so cute right now.  That only made it worse because Yang wanted to say how cute Blake looked.  

But the agreement was that Yang wouldn’t talk.  She wasn’t entirely sure what would happen if she did, but she really didn’t want to find out.  They were going to have dinner with Weiss and Ruby, and Yang was actually looking forward to that!  Plus, living - she looked forward to living too.  Not that anyone died from coming between Blake and her reading...at least, not yet...

Rather that say anything out loud, Yang decided to send subliminal thoughts Blake’s way.

‘You look so cute right now - all focused on the story…’

‘You look super cute always, actually.’

‘Seriously, if your ear does that adorable ear twitch thing again, I’m gonna have to say something.’

Shooting another glance to the side, Yang’s eyes widened when she received a stern look that suggested Blake’s reading was being interrupted in some way.  Like by subliminal messages being sent her direction...

Well they were almost there, so Yang would just deal with the silence for a little longer.  It would end as soon as she saw Ruby, who was always more than willing to speak at a million words per minute.

Watching Blake turn another page, Yang unwittingly sighed in longing.  Blake was basically devouring that book right now...and Yang was wishing that Blake would look at her that way.  Which definitely happened, but it wasn’t happening now.  Instead, the dumb book was getting all of Blake’s attention.

Wait, was Yang getting jealous of a book again?

Shaking her head, she focused on turning off the street when they finally made it to Weiss and Ruby’s home - the cutest little white house with blue shutters.  (When Yang used the term ‘little,’ she meant little for Weiss - for normal people, this was a mansion.)  Parking in front of the door at the top of the drive, Yang let out a sigh of relief.

“Ok,” she said, immediately wincing when she realized she said that out loud.  Thankfully, the slip-up was forgiven - with Blake lowering her book to give Yang a grateful smile.

“Thank you,” Blake said, that smile warming like the sun through Yang’s bones.  “For understanding.”

Even if she didn’t really understand why it was absolutely necessary to finish an entire book in one sitting, Yang would do absolutely anything for that look.  Anything.  Literally anything.

“Of course,” she replied, leaning across the car to give Blake a kiss - one that Yang meant to be short and sweet until Blake pressed into it.  Willingly accepting the short burst of passion, Yang had one hand woven through locks of raven-colored hair in no time, enjoying the softness of Blake’s skin and taste of her lips.  When their kiss smoothly ended and Yang lingered within a breath’s distance, she suddenly wished that she didn’t have to go inside.  But she’d promised Ruby, so she reluctantly pulled away - finding Blake’s eyes sparkling with love and mirth.

“We’ll finish that next,” Blake commented with a smirk, reading Yang’s desire and then some.

“God, I love you.”  After leaning over and stealing a quick kiss, Yang finally got out of the car.  Leaving the keys and closing the door, she sent Blake a wave before walking up the front steps and ringing the bell.

Shooting one last glance over her shoulder and finding that Blake was already happily back to reading, Yang grinned when the front door opened and Weiss was standing just inside.

Weiss Schnee in an apron, no less.

“Woah, look at you,” Yang immediately said.  “Who knew you could be so...domestic.”

“Very funny.”  Weiss tugged at the red apron (which must be a gift from Ruby - that’s the only reason Weiss would wear such a thing) before looking over Yang’s shoulder.  “Where’s your shadow?”

“Finishing up a book.”  Yang waved towards the car and Weiss nodded upon seeing Blake.  “Where’s your cloud of petals?”

“Working on a crossword.”

“Ah, I -”  In the middle of an instinctive nod, Yang froze when the words sank in.  “Wait, she’s what?”

Shaking her head, Weiss motioned Yang into the foyer before closing the door behind them.  Leaving it unlocked for Blake to come in whenever she was finished, Weiss walked into the kitchen with Yang on her heels.  

Yang immediately spotted her little sister sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen.  And, as it turned out, Weiss was telling the truth - laying on the counter in front of Ruby was a crossword puzzle.  It looked like it was cut out of the newspaper, leaving her with only a small square to work with.  It also looked like she was having a heck of a time making any progress - with her head currently resting on both hands while she stared down at it.

“Hey Ruby!” Yang called out, drawing a silver gaze her way.  

“Yang!”

Flying out of her chair, Ruby crashed into Yang for a big hug.  Each of them tried to squeeze the other as tight as possible, letting out little grunts of effort before finally letting go.  

“You’d think you hadn’t seen each other in forever,” Weiss muttered while going to the stove to check on dinner.

“A couple days is way too long,” Yang replied before turning down to give Ruby a big smile and ruffle of her short brunette hair.  “What’s up, shortstack?”

“I’m working on a crossword!”  Jumping back onto the barstool, Ruby pushed the partially finished puzzle over for Yang to see.  “Weiss finished one all by herself this week, so I’m trying to finish this one!”

“A crossword?  Jeez, these things are hard!”  Reading some of the clues, Yang shook her head and shoved the paper back to her sister.  “Looks like you’re making progress though.”

“Only a tiny bit…” Ruby said, temporarily disappointed before perking up with a huge grin.  “Hey, maybe you can help me!”

Hearing a scoff of disbelief from the stove, Yang sent Weiss a glare before turning back to Ruby with a grin.

“But if I help, you wouldn’t have finished the entire thing yourself,” Yang said.  “And don’t you want to finish it all by yourself?”

After briefly biting her lip in thought, Ruby sighed.

“I guess…”

“I doubt Yang would be much help anyway,” Weiss added, walking behind Ruby and placing one hand on her shoulder while shooting Yang a smirk.  “Unless there are questions on soap operas and fashion.”

“Which there are sometimes,” Yang pointed out.

“Rarely.”

“Oh!” Ruby suddenly exclaimed, ending their teasing with nothing more than that single word.  “I have an idea!  You guys can help me with just one answer!”

“Ruby…” Weiss began, shaking her head when Ruby looked at her.  “We can’t give you the answers, remember?  Then you wouldn’t have finished it by yourself.”

“Don’t give me the answer.  But you could give me another clue!”  When Ruby turned begging silver eyes on Weiss, Yang chuckled while watching Weiss melt into a puddle.  

“Pleaseeeeee?”

If the puppy dog eyes weren’t enough to sway Weiss’ normally steely resolve, the pleading voice definitely was.

“Fine,” she caved, like matchsticks getting hit by a wrecking ball.  “Just one though.”

“Yay!  Ok, and I’ll pick a small one too - how ‘bout that?  Then you guys wouldn’t have helped me too much.”  Looking at both of them for agreement, Ruby grinned when they both nodded - Weiss far more reluctantly than Yang.  Excited about her enlisted helpers, Ruby scanned the page in front of her before sticking a finger down beside one of the clues.

“Got one!”  Seeing Ruby’s apparent glee at working on a crossword puzzle, of all things, Yang grinned.  Sticking her nose close to the page, Ruby read aloud, “Five-down.  Three letters - an action that involves a lot of touching.”

Three letters.  An action that involves a lot of touching.

The smile instantly fell from Yang’s lips as she and Weiss shared an equal look of disbelief - having come up with the same answer at the same time.  When Ruby glanced up from the puzzle, Yang threw on what she hoped was a nonchalant expression.

“Any ideas?” 

Seeing the dismay on Weiss’ face while she looked over Ruby’s shoulder to re-read the clue, Yang couldn’t help but to laugh.  

“Oh, I bet Weiss knows the answer,” she teased, never missing an opportunity to make Weiss blush.

“Do you??”  As expected, Ruby turned to Weiss with hopeful eyes.  “Can you give me another hint?”

“Uh...well…”  Opening and closing her mouth several times, Weiss finally gave up and shook her head.  “I’m sure Yang knows the answer too - maybe she can give you a hint first.”

When silver eyes turned her way, Yang chuckled - although this time wishing that she hadn’t been so interested in the crossword to begin with.  The situations she got herself into sometimes…but to be fair, it was Ruby who’d decided to ask the most uncomfortable question on the whole dang puzzle.  Unwittingly too - because Ruby was just so skillful at making situations awkward without even trying.

“Well,” Yang began, clearing her throat while fighting against a blush that was threatening to form.  “Uh, well, it’s something that people do sometimes…”

“Like old people?” Ruby asked.

“Uh, I guess…”  Yang wrinkled her nose at the thought and then shook it out of her head.  “But younger people, mostly.”

“Like kids?”

Weiss let out an unexpected laugh at the question, which thankfully drew Ruby’s attention away from Yang.

“Oh, no,” Weiss answered.  “It’s more of...an adult thing.”

“Hmm…”  When Ruby’s attention fell to the puzzle in front of her, Weiss shot Yang a glare - clearly blaming her for getting them into this situation.  Well, she kind of blamed herself too, but the only way out was to help Ruby solve the riddle!  Or hope for a meteor to land next door and spare them from this embarrassment.

“Have we done it?” Ruby abruptly asked, gesturing between herself and Yang.  Taking a step back, Yang rapidly waved both hands in front of her.

“Oh no.  No, no.  Just...no.”  Laughing nervously, she gestured towards Weiss.  “But you’ve probably done it with Weiss.”

When Weiss very conspicuously avoided eye contact, Yang had the answer she’d never, ever wanted.  Of course, the answer still eluded Ruby - who looked at Weiss in confusion.

“But Weiss and I do a lot of stuff…”

Yang wanted to laugh at the response, but lost all desire to when Weiss’ blush deepened.

“Ok, so Yang and I don’t do it, but Weiss and I do.”  Ruby pursed her lips for a second while tapping her pen to her chin.  “What about Blake?  Have I done it with Blake?”

“What?  No!” Yang yelped at the same moment Weiss said, “Ruby!” in a surprised tone.  Baffled by the strong response, Ruby lifted her hands in apology for whatever she’d inadvertently said.

Taking a deep breath, Weiss exhaled slowly before giving Ruby a reassuring smile.

“It’s...something we do at night,” she said, her soft voice practically begging Ruby to put an end to this misery.  “Mostly.”

Wrinkling her nose at the added word, Yang shook her head for emphasis.  “Too much information, Weiss.  Too much information.”

While Weiss scowled at Yang, Ruby tried to piece her clues together.

“We have a goodnight kiss every night!” Ruby remarked.  “But ‘kiss’ is four letters…”

Yang gestured with one hand, motioning for Ruby to continue that train of thought a little further, but it didn’t happen.  Bless her soul, Ruby was just so innocent - although maybe not as innocent as Yang had blissfully assumed a few minutes ago...before her mind had been forever scarred by this stupid crossword puzzle.

“How often do we do it?” Ruby asked.  This time Yang did laugh at the deer-in-headlights look on Weiss’ face.

“Yeah, Weiss,” she piled on.  “How often do you do it?  Like once a month at eight o’clock sharp?”

Yang started chuckling at the idea of Weiss scheduling absolutely everything in her life - including moments of passion - but fell silent when Weiss raised one brow and smiled smugly.  As Weiss opened her mouth to reply, Yang held up one hand to stop her.

“Nope.  Don’t want to know the answer to that.”

“We do it plenty,” Weiss said anyway, sending Yang a smirk while her little sister’s innocence was wiped out before her very eyes.  “But it’s something Yang and Blake do all the time.”

“You mean kiss?” Ruby answered.  “Yeah, but that’s still four letters.  Unless I’m supposed to spell it with just one ‘s’?”

Quickly recovering from Weiss’ (highly effective) counterattack, Yang decided to send the volley right back Weiss’ way.

“Guessing you’re not very memorable, Weiss,” she teased.  “Otherwise Ruby should’ve had this by now.”

Bingo.  Weiss gave Yang a glare that would turn weaker foes into stone.  Unfortunately for Weiss, Yang was already a chiseled work of art.

“I’m plenty memorable,” Weiss retorted.  “Not that you’ll ever know.”

“Ohhh really?”  Happy with the subject now that it didn’t include Ruby, Yang leveled Weiss with a grin.  “I bet you’re a screamer.”

“I bet you’re obnoxiously loud,” Weiss shot back as Ruby looked between the two of them in growing confusion.

“You wish you knew,” Yang teased, adding in a playful wink.  “Never too late, Weiss.”

“I’d rather cut off my own ears, thank you very much.”

“What are you guys talking about?”

Turning towards the voice in surprise, Yang broke into a huge smile when she found Blake standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

“Ah, Reading Beauty finally joins us!”  Walking over, Yang gave Blake a kiss on the cheek while placing one hand comfortably on the small of her back and leading her to the island.  “How was the end of your book?”

“It was great,” Blake replied, her eyes still slightly narrowed in suspicion.  “But what are you doing?  Why is Weiss going to cut off her ears?”

“They’re helping me with a crossword!”  Piping in, Ruby’s eyes widened with a thought.  “Oh, maybe you can help!  What’s a three letter word for an action that involves a lot of touching?”

While Ruby waited for a response, Yang watched Blake’s ears twitch - first in surprise, then in complete understanding.  

“A hug,” Blake answered, to which Ruby squealed in delight before marking the letters into their boxes.

“A hug!  Duh, Ruby,” she said to herself before looking up in surprise.  “Wait - you guys lied!  Blake and I hug all the time!”

Not at all surprised by the answer (which she’d totally thought of), Yang shared a quick look with Weiss before they both set into motion at once.

“Perfect timing, Blake,” Weiss said, ignoring Ruby’s questioning gaze while heading back to the stove and pulling out a pair of potholders.  “Dinner’s almost ready.”

“I’ll set the table!” Yang offered, opening a drawer in the island and grabbing a handful of utensils before heading into the separated dining room.  Dropping a knife and fork into the space where Weiss normally sat, Yang moved over to Ruby’s as a shadowy presence followed her.

“Yang.”

Looking up, Yang immediately fell in love with Blake again - all for the smirk currently on her lips.

“Yeah?” Yang asked, abandoning the rest of the silverware on the table when Blake walked over - using that sexy saunter that demanded Yang’s full attention.

“What’s a three letter word…” Blake began to say, reaching up and tugging almost possessively at Yang’s collar.  “For an action that involves a lot of touching…?”

Clearing her throat while rapidly losing the ability to focus on anything but Blake’s eyes, Yang still managed a grin.

“A hug,” she answered.  “You totally nailed it.  I mean, you got it right.”

Laughing at the response - a light, happy sound that always put Yang’s heart at ease - Blake shook her head in amusement.

“I can’t leave you alone for even a few minutes,” she remarked, her eyes saying that that wasn’t a bad thing at all.

“I prefer that you don’t,” Yang replied.  Smiling at the honest response, Blake shot a glance towards the kitchen before lowering her voice.

“How fast do you think we can eat dinner and go home?”  When Blake reached up and twirled a strand of Yang’s hair around her finger - all with that irresistible grin set in place - Yang cleared her throat before calling out to the kitchen.

“Hey Ruby!  Let’s have a race to see who can finish dinner the fastest!”  Hearing an excited squeal of acceptance, Yang turned back to Blake with a grin.

“Probably pretty damn fast.”

With a pleased “hmm”, Blake picked up the silverware and finished setting the table - shooting a glance over one shoulder to Yang in the process.  Having seen that glance more than a few times before, Yang quickly walked around the other side of the table and met up with Blake at her own seat.

“Can you say it?” Yang asked, knowing that there was a witty comment being held at bay.  “I wanna hear you say it.”

Even though Blake managed a serious expression, her eyes gave away a brilliant smile.

“I can think of another answer to that question...can’t you?” she said, a sexy smirk forming as Yang’s heart melted into a puddle right there on the dining room floor.

“Hell yeah I can,” was all she got out before Blake’s arms wrapped around her neck and pulled her down for a kiss.

“See, I told you!  They kiss all the time!”

Sighing against Yang’s lips, Blake pulled away as Ruby and Weiss walked into the dining room - each of them carrying a steaming platter of food.

“You’re right, Ruby.  They do kiss all the time.  If the answer had been four letters, you’d absolutely be right.”

As Ruby nodded in satisfaction at being told she was right, Yang shot Weiss a knowing grin.  Yang loved the way Weiss handled Ruby so deftly, but Weiss hated the way Yang praised her for being so kind and patient.  It was a lose-lose situation that Weiss normally handled by being extremely prickly about it, or avoiding it entirely.

“So Blake,” Weiss said while setting the large serving dish of spaghetti down on the table (avoidance).  “I’m guessing you finished that series you started last week.  What’s next on your list?”

“Oh, I have a few choices -”

“Anything good?” Ruby asked, setting the tray of garlic bread directly in front of her plate before plopping into her seat and shoving nearly half a slice into her mouth at once.

When Blake took her seat and shot a grin across the table, Yang felt a shiver of thrill run down her spin.

“One of those options is very good,” Blake said, the words coming out with a slight purr that made Yang blush.  After clearing her throat and opening her mouth to say something witty, Yang found that she had nothing to add to the end of that sentence - of course, the silence made Weiss look between the two of them before rolling her eyes in understanding.

“Really?  What is it?”

The three of them froze at Ruby’s question, with each of them wearing an expression that plainly said ‘God, Ruby - why do you ask questions?  I thought I taught you not to ask questions by now.’

“You probably don’t want to know,” Weiss said while dropping a heaping pile of spaghetti onto Ruby’s plate.  But Ruby shook her head and turned back to Blake.

“But I wanna know!  What if it’s really good?  Like really, really good??”

Each subsequent ‘really’ deepened Yang’s blush as she and Weiss waited on bated breath to see what Blake would say next.  Unlike the two of them, Blake was a master of words.  A true wordsmith.  If anyone was going to seamlessly wiggle their way out of the question, it would be Blake.

But first, Blake nibbled at a piece of toast, taking her time to chew and swallow while coming up with an answer.  The moment she did, she sent Yang a playful grin.

“It’s your sister.”

Ruby immediately started coughing in surprise, nearly spitting noodles all over the table in the process.  While Weiss reached over to pat Ruby’s back, Yang stared across the table in shock.  But frisky amber eyes told her that her current level of atomically hot embarrassment was intentional - that Blake had somehow just won a game Yang hadn’t even known they were playing.  

And she couldn’t care less that she’d lost - because she was going to be rewarded.  She didn’t need to be jealous of a book anymore because tonight all of the books were going to be jealous of her.

Thank you, really dumb and embarrassing crossword clue.