3rd Person POV
RWBY Dorm
As it turns out, waking up with not one person, but an entire team of people, landing on you is not the best way to wake up. Sincline had been almost asleep, quietly wondering why Ruby had her arms wrapped around him again...and why he liked it so much... when the door slammed open.
"WAKE UP, YOU LAZY LUMPS!" Nora shouted.
Sincline jerked in surprise, attempting to shoot to his feet, only for his ankles to tangle in the sheets. He fell and barely fought back a grunt of pain as his back slammed into the floor. Groaning, he looked up... only for his eyes to widen as Weiss fell out of bed as well... landing right on his chest.
Sincline coughed... and that's when Ruby, having been unbalanced due to the shifting bed, fell on his head... with Yang and Blake falling on his torso and knocking the wind out of him.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Weiss snapped, rubbing her back and wincing, flashing Nora a glare in the process. Idly, she wondered why the landing was so soft compared to the last time she fell out of bed.
"...ow," Sincline's muffled voice groaned, and the four girls froze.
Ever so slowly, the four of them looked down... and their eyes widened as they realized just who they were lying on. "Sincline!" As one, the four girls practically teleported off their fallen teammate, finally allowing him to breathe.
"...that hurt," Sincline groaned, rubbing his eyes and wincing as he sat up. "Why is Nora knocking down the door again?"
"I dunno, but she'd better have a good reason," Yang muttered, glaring at Nora while trying to ignore the fact that they didn't land on Sincline in the... best position.
Nora pouted. "Of course, I have a good reason! It's New Year's Eve!" she exclaimed as Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha slowly filed out of their dorm, groaning as they rubbed sleep from their eyes. Evidently, Nora didn't have mercy on them either... and that's when her words registered.
"Wait, it's New Year's Eve?!" the four girls shrieked, causing Sincline to wince and rub his ears.
"How did we forget that?" Blake wondered.
"I don't know!" Ruby yelped, tugging her hair in despair. "Weiss, didn't you mark it on the calendar?"
The Heiress stared at her. "You mean the same calendar that you decided to use as a dartboard?" she deadpanned.
"...you have no evidence," Ruby declared.
Weiss opened her mouth to counter... only for Sincline to tilt his head. "Um... what's New Year's Eve?"
Everyone froze, and the two teams gaped at him in astonishment. "How did... how do you not know what New Year's Eve is?" Jaune exclaimed.
Ren tapped his shoulder. "Um...." He pointed at Sincline, who let some purple fire leak from the edges of his eyes.
Jaune sweatdropped. "Right... trans-reality mech... sorry, Sincline."
"It's alright," Sincline assured, ignoring the bead of sweat that slowly dripped down his neck. This is the second time he's forgotten... I hope he's alright. Maybe Jaune got hit on the head or something.
"Well, for your information, Sincline, it's the day where the whole world celebrates the end of the year and the beginning of a new one," Weiss explained. "For example, say it's 2019. When it turns to midnight, it would be the wonderful new year of 2020. Does that make sense?"
"I guess," Sincline mused, and idly wondered why he felt a surge of unease rush through his veins. It was probably nothing... right? "So... how do people celebrate?" he asked and checked his internal clock. "And since its nighttime, shouldn't it be New Year's Night?" he asked, tilting his head.
Ruby pointed first at Sincline, then at Yang. "See? I told you I wasn't the only one confused by that!" she said happily.
In response, Yang just groaned and, climbing her bunk, faceplanted back on her bed. "Just tell me how long we have," she groaned.
"Uh..." Pyrrha checked her scroll... and froze, her cheeks reddening. "It's uh... 11:55?" she said sheepishly.
"...WHAT?!" Team RWBY shrieked, almost knocking Sincline, Jaune, and Ren over with the force of their yell.
"I'm sorry!"
Timeskip
"So... why is Ren pouring wine again?" Sincline asked as he and Ruby watched the others completely reorganize Team RWBY's Dorm. Both bunks had been placed outside in favor of bringing in a metal table that Pyrrha assembled using her semblance.
"It's a New Year tradition," Ruby explained as Weiss pulled out a full set of crystalline goblets from... somewhere, while Yang changed the channel of the TV. Nora was... setting up a plate of desserts, and stealing one every few seconds, while Blake and Jaune were bringing in another couch from the lounge. "As soon as it turns to midnight, we do a toast to celebrate the new year."
"But... we don't have a toaster," Sincline pointed out, and Ruby giggled, much to his confusion. Maybe it's another one of those 'slang' things that Yang told me about, he thought.
"Got it!" Yang cheered, drawing their attention to the TV as she finally turned it to the right channel. And just in time, too. It was only one minute until midnight.
At once, everyone groaned. "A commercial?" Jaune whined, slumping on a couch. "Now?"
"Businesses still need to make money, Jaune," Pyrrha chided, patting his back sympathetically. Still, even she knew it was a little strange for an ad to run just before the ball drop.
"Why does it have to be an SDC commercial?" Blake grumbled... then winced, glancing at her teammate. "Sorry."
Weiss sighed. "Don't worry about it. My... father, only sees the holidays as a marketing opportunity." Sadly, a lot of businesses do, she thought quietly.
"Oh look! Something new is on!" Nora said eagerly as the screen changed, showing a black car pulling up to a gas station called Bolivia's.
"Oh, I've seen this trailer before!" Yang said excitedly, plopping down on the couch beside Ruby as Weiss and Blake joined her and Sincline, Team JNPR doing the same on the other couch. "Transformers!"
"I've heard about it," Blake commented. "It's supposed to be the beginning of a popular franchise. It's about an ancient struggle between two extraterrestrial clans over the ultimate power known as the Cube."
Sincline gave a wry smile. "Well, that sounds familiar," he chuckled. At least the extraterrestrial part... And the ultimate power part. Still... he couldn't help but think back to Voltron. Technically our comets are ancient from what I know... I guess that movie could be about us. The thought was amusing.
"Finally!" Nora exclaimed as the TV screen changed once more, showing what seemed to be a large courtyard in the middle of Atlas—the streets full of humans and Faunus alike with massive towers rising into the sky.
"So let me get this straight," Sincline said slowly as the camera began zooming in on the top of a tower where a strange ball was located. "They drop the ball... and that starts the New Year?"
Weiss nodded. "Essentially—"
"Shh!" Ren hissed. "It's starting!"
Chastised, Weiss and Sincline turned their attention back to the screen and watched as the ball began to drop.
"Everyone have their glasses?" Jaune asked, and everyone nodded, Sincline eyeing the red drink curiously.
"Too bad we don't have any fireworks," Yang commented, sighing... and Sincline got an idea.
Snapping his fingers, Sincline flicked his wrist, and two of his ships materialized outside the windows in a flash of swirling particles. At the curious looks Ruby and Pyrrha gave him, he shrugged. "She wants fireworks, so... this is as close as I can get."
Shaking her head, Ruby smiled and turned her attention back to the screen as the countdown began.
"Ten!" Jaune announced.
"Nine!" Nora cheered, bonking Ren on the head in the process.
"Eight!" Pyrrha added, fighting back a smile as Jaune grinned at her.
"Seven!" Ren sighed.
"Six!" Ruby shouted.
"Five!" Weiss chimed.
"Four!" Blake added.
"Three!" Yang cheered.
"Two!" Mercury called, running down the hallway and dodging a fireball from Cinder (who had a party hat stuck on her head).
"...One!" Sincline shouted... and the ball hit the bottom.
"Happy New Year!" everyone shouted and raised their glasses toward each other in celebration. At the same time, Sincline's ships turned their guns to the sky and fired, multiple jets of energy lancing into the clouds. The beams met, and massive explosions of sparkling particles filled the sky, much to everyone's enjoyment.
Smiling happily, Sincline did as the others were doing and tapped his glass against Weiss's as she did the same to him. He took a sip, eyes lighting up at the flavor... and that's when Ruby kissed him on the cheek, causing him to freeze in surprise.
Pulling away, her face redder than her cape, Ruby looked away and, at Sincline's questioning glance, mumbled, "It's another tradition."
"Okaaay?"
Shaking his head, Sincline smiled... unaware of Yang's stare boring into his back while Blake shook her head and Weiss giggled. I think I could get used to this, Sincline thought, raising his glass toward Jaune as the blond-haired boy (who had been kissed on the cheek as well, but by Pyrrha) turned as red as the champion's hair.
"Happy New Year, everyone!" Mercury shouted as yet another fireball flew over his head and into the night sky. "And that includes you, too, readers!"
(A/N) Happy New Year everyone! And yes, Mercury will survive to the next year... probably.