Commission for UnhappyEchinda, who asked for a rare pair, Energizer Bunny (Penny/Velvet). I always love writing Penny because of her speech pattern and I've gotta write Velvet more often, so here I killed two birds with one stone!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Between Us

It had all started during the Vytal festival.

That was when Velvet had first seen her, the petite girl with an orange bob-cut and a big pink bow in her hair. She'd been talking to Ruby and a few of the other freshmen at the time.

From what Velvet could discern, she was a very cheerful girl, one she hadn't seen at Beacon before. And for whatever reason, she was oddly curious about her.

Naturally, Coco had noticed the way her quiet teammate had become even quieter and clammed up in order to observe the girl from afar, her Faunus ears twitching slightly in that little way of hers that demonstrated her curiosity.

When her leader had nudged her and suggestively asked what she was doing, Velvet had squeaked and tried to change the subject. But even with her shades on, Coco saw all.

"Takin' an interest in the cute ginger, huh?"

And even before Velvet could hush her and tell her it wasn't like that, Coco had continued swiftly.

"Want me to hook you up? I can definitely do it. I've got connections with the heiress and I can have her relay a message, if you'd like."

And Velvet had insisted against it, being almost adamant in her frantic refusal. But it was that very franticness that had decided her fate in the end.

Coco had decided she just had to get her teammate a chance with the peculiar girl.

So she'd slipped mention of it into her next casual conversation with Weiss, who had then transferred said message over to Ruby. From there, Ruby had eagerly spoken to Penny the next time they'd met.

Velvet couldn't guess what the young leader had said in order to set Penny's attention on her.

But somehow, here she was. Seated at an empty cafe table, waiting a bit anxiously for the girl she'd been interested in since she'd first laid eyes on her.

It was a cafe in Vale popular to Beacon students, and Penny had agreed to meet her here.

Or, at least, that's what Velvet had been told. She'd never spoken to Penny directly yet – she'd only spoken to Coco who had communicated through Weiss and Ruby.

By the second, Velvet was beginning to think this was a terrible idea.

Who even does something like this, anyway? she asked herself. Asking someone they've never even formally met to a cafe? And doing it through second and third parties only? I'm sure if someone had done the same for me, I would've had to refuse.

This was probably the boldest thing she'd ever done in her life, more or less asking a stranger out to coffee. She was regretting it more and more by the minute, mulling over just how awkward a situation she'd managed to put herself in.

Back in the dorm room, Coco had made it sound so effortless:

"Just meet up with her, have a little chat, and see how things go!"

Now Velvet was starting to truly understand the phrase "easier said than done." She wished she could've borrowed a bit of her leader's confidence for today.

With a sigh, Velvet shifted in her seat, hands in her lap as they ignored the untouched cup of tea in front of her. Her ears started to droop and her shoulders started to slouch.

This... was a really bad idea after all... What was I thinking? No one would ever show up to such a strange meet-up.

It wasn't yet the designated time they'd arranged to meet at, but Velvet was steeling herself to just stand up and leave in a few minutes.

I look like a fool sitting here all by myself. I'll just take a ship back to Beacon and pretend this never even happened...

But just before she could begin to go through with it, the little bells on the cafe's front door chimed as a familiar girl stepped in.

Velvet squeaked and ducked herself down, though it wasn't very effective when her ears were easily still visible. Then she realized. Wait, what am I doing? This is the person I'm here to meet!

Slowly, she straightened herself up and peered over the back of her seat.

Penny strolled into the cafe with a small spring in her step and a smile on her face. But as soon as she entered, a look of confusion painted her expression. She glanced around, bouncing on her heels. Velvet realized who she was looking for.

It was so embarrassing. She'd seen Penny before and spoken so much of her, but Penny had yet to so much as catch a glimpse of her until now.

I'm surprised she decided to come and meet someone she's never even seen before...

Velvet slid herself into Penny's line of vision and met her eyes. It was the first time she'd seen them up close, a refreshing minty color. The Faunus girl mustered up some courage and gave a timid little wave and an even tinier smile.

Penny saw her and immediately bounded over, her dress and her hair bobbing merrily in time with her step. She came to a halt right at the end of Velvet's table and lifted a hand up to her forehead in a salute.

"Sal~u~tations!" she chirped. "Might you be Miss Velvet?"

The Faunus girl felt a warm blush creep onto her cheeks.

"Ah, y-yes. That would be me. But just Velvet is fine... Y-You're Penny, right?"

"Yes indeed!"

"Oh... brilliant!" Velvet did her best to put on another smile. "Oh, um, w-why don't you have a seat here with me then?"

"I would love to! Thank you very much!" Penny happily took the spot opposite Velvet, and she didn't stop beaming all the while.

Velvet stiffened, feeling her throat closing up. What was she supposed to do now? Talk? About what, exactly? She was so bad with interacting with new people. She was going to make a fool out of herself...

"So!" Penny began. "Ruby told me that Weiss told her that someone else told Weiss that you told someone else you wanted to meet with me!"

"Ah, y-yes. That's true..."

"Well, here I am! I'm rendezvous-ready!" she declared. "Oh! What's that?" Her eyes flashed down to the spot in front of Velvet.

The Faunus looked down, a bit puzzled.

"S-Sorry. What's what?"

"What are you drinking?"

"Oh! Um, well I ordered a cup of tea, but I guess I've let it get cold now."

"Ohh, tea? May I have some as well?"

"S-Sure. Just wait a moment for the waitress to-"

But Velvet didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she watched as Penny reached across the table, picked up the tea cup, and brought it directly up to her smiling lips. She gulped down a hearty mouthful before placing it back onto the table.

"Mm! It's delicious! Thank you for letting me have some!"

"I... Y-You're... you're welcome..."

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I haven't introduced myself yet! My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you! Don't worry, I already know your name is Velvet, so you don't need to introduce yourself if you don't want to!"

"Oh... um... r-right. Alright..." Velvet was still so baffled by the tea incident that she realized she was tardy with her response to Penny's introduction. "Oh, it's um... it's nice to meet you too, Penny." She shook her head a bit to compose herself and push what had just happened to the back of her mind. "Right. I'm the one who asked you to come meet me here."

"Yes! When I talked to Ruby, who had talked to Weiss, who had talked to your friend, who had talked to you, she said you were her upperclassman at Beacon! Is that correct?"

"Yes. Th-That's correct."

"That's spectacular! So that means you're my upperclassman, too! Oh, this is so exciting! I've never had a friend who was this much older than me! Oh! Not to say that you're old! I didn't mean it in a bad way." She frowned, suddenly looking as nervous as Velvet had felt up until now.

The Faunus girl shook her head again and reached her hand out.

"No, it's perfectly fine! I take no offense, Penny."

"You don't? That's good." And just like that, the smile was back.

Velvet allowed her own lips to curl up in relief. At least if it was easy to make Penny upset, it was just as easy to make her happy again.

Velvet was beginning to feel that they might've been a bit more similar than she'd initially thought.

Her mind was swimming now to pull up another topic of conversation, but before she could manage it, another customer started it up for them. A pair of girls was just passing by the table, and one blurted something out as they passed Penny and Velvet.

"Wow! Aren't you two quite the couple?"

Velvet felt her cheeks flush all over again as she quickly denied the assumption.

"Oh, w-we're not a couple!" she said quickly, not wanting to risk offending Penny by letting people think that they were.

The girl who'd spoken frowned and shrugged.

"Aw, my bad. Sorry." And with that, she and her friend walked on.

Velvet couldn't believe that had just happened. Lips pursed, she dared to flick a glance over at Penny.

But the ginger-haired girl didn't seem to be offended at all. She met Velvet's gaze and titled her head curiously to one side.

"Velvet? But aren't we a couple?"

The fur on Velvet's Faunus ears began to prickle as a tightness formed inside her chest.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

Penny pondered for a moment.

"Well. The definition of a couple is sort of like a pair, right? Meaning at least two persons or objects. And there are two of us here, aren't there?"

Velvet let out the breath she'd been holding.

"W-Well, yes. I suppose in that sense, we are a... couple. But not in the sense that girl was implying."

"Oh? Then how was she implying it? I'd surely like to know!" Penny's tone and the innocent gleam in her eyes told Velvet she was genuinely curious.

The older girl did her best to explain.

"W-Well... you see, she assumed we were on a date..."

"A date?" Penny parroted. "Well, today is the eighteenth of the month, if that makes things any clearer for her."

"No, no," Velvet bit her lip. "She meant... well..." As she was babbling, a thought struck her mind. Inhaling slowly, she decided to say it. "Well... if you'd like... I could... show you what a date is..."

Perhaps she'd borrowed a bit of Coco's confidence today after all.

Penny seemed thrilled with the idea.

"Oh, yes please! I would love to experience a date with you, Velvet! To be honest, I think I've heard about them before in the sense you're referring to them in, but I've never been on one before! This is going to be so much fun!"

She popped up from her seat like bread out of a toaster, then instantly started marching towards the door. Velvet scrambled to leave behind payment for the tea Penny had enjoyed and hurried after her.

As she caught up, her thoughts were all a blur.

Oh, brilliant job, Velvet! What am I going to do now? I can't really take her on a-

"So!" Penny spun around on her heel as Velvet exited the cafe behind her. "What is our first order of business on a date?"

Velvet whimpered under her breath, but she couldn't back out now.

"W-Well... I suppose we could go for a stroll. Just around the park or something."

"That sounds like fun! Um... what exactly is a 'stroll'?"

And despite the strangeness of her situation, Velvet chuckled.

For the remainder of the morning and for several hours into the afternoon, the Faunus girl did her best to show Penny what a proper date consisted of.

They went shopping together in Vale's little stores, something Velvet was surprised to hear Penny had never done before.

From what Velvet understood, she was a very sheltered girl, whose father was very protective of her. Which was why she made a mental note to herself to make sure Penny would be home before suppertime.

She took her down to the beach, where they removed their shoes and walked along the shoreline. Evidently, Penny had never been to the beach before, either. She marveled at every little thing, and even most of the big things as well. She stopped to admire all the tiny seashells and hermit crabs, and even tried to pet a seagull.

Velvet couldn't help but giggle as she watched Penny in her wondrous enjoyment of such seemingly-commonplace things.

She hadn't realized when the nervousness had died away, and that was something that almost never happened. With Penny, Velvet seemed to forget her innate shyness, but it was in a different way than how she acted with her teammates.

With Penny, she didn't have to be professional or serious.

And Velvet didn't know it, but it was the same for Penny.

She'd never gotten to experience such fun before, not even when she'd met Ruby and her friends. Things felt... different with Velvet.

But it worried her that she couldn't decipher if it was in a good way or a bad way.

Back at the cafe, it had felt good. But now, as they left the beach behind and headed for the park, Penny started to feel strange.

The feeling had been bubbling inside of her for the past few hours she'd spent together with Velvet, but now it was beginning to worry her.

So as they passed by a grassy hill sprinkled with colorful flowers, Penny reached out to stop her companion.

"Um... Velvet...?"

The Faunus girl hadn't noticed the change in Penny's demeanor until now. The two girls had switched roles since the start of their meet-up. Now, Velvet was the elated one, and Penny was the one feeling nervous.

As soon as she realized the ginger-haired girl had lost her smile, Velvet let her own fade away.

"Yes, Penny? What is it?" She'd been enjoying herself immensely today, and she'd been under the impression that Penny had been, too.

The smaller girl looked away.

"After all you've done for me today, after all you've shown me... there's something I want to show you, too. It feels only right."

Velvet's ears drooped ever so slightly, and she softened her voice.

"Of course, Penny. Anything..."

Penny lifted her face again and stared deep into Velvet's eyes.

"Really? You mean it? Anything?"

Velvet didn't waver.

"Yes. Anything."

And she really meant it.

So Penny took her hand and gently led her into the grass, so they may sit among the flowers. Velvet was quiet as she let Penny speak her mind.

"Velvet... I had a lot of fun with you today. This was my first time ever going out on a date, and I really enjoyed it! You showed me so many things. So I think it's only fair I told you the truth..."

She turned to her, happiness on her lips but hesitance in her eyes. "I... don't know how you'll feel about me afterwards, but I just want you to know that I had a very fun time today. Thank you, Velvet."

The Faunus girl couldn't imagine what was making the peppy young girl speak so solemnly now. She nodded, bracing herself for whatever was about to be revealed to her.

She watched as Penny grasped her own hand, then began to scratch at her skin with her opposite thumbnail. Velvet blinked, confused.

"Penny, what-?"

But she didn't get to finish asking. She was rendered speechless as the girl before her lifted up her hand, revealing shining silver beneath the peachy skin.

Penny looked at her with worried eyes, keeping her voice low.

"Velvet... I'm... not a real girl..."

She really should have been more shocked than she was. But for whatever reason, Velvet felt this was somehow oddly appropriate for Penny. She was amazed at how easily she herself accepted this revelation, reaching out with both hands to take Penny's.

Velvet smiled, ears twitching.

"Why... that's... quite something," she murmured. "I'll admit I'm... rather astounded. But not because of that..." She flicked her eyes down to Penny's hand. "But rather... because you trusted me enough to tell me... to show me... even though we've only just met."

Penny's hand trembled in hers.

"I just felt... it was only fair. Especially since I had such a wonderful time with you today. I felt you deserved to know... So you're... you're not upset?"

"Upset?" Velvet queried. "Now, why should I be? How could I ever be upset when you've trusted me with something like this? And after the fun day we've just spent together? Penny, I couldn't be upset for anything right now."

Once more, she mustered up that rare bit of confidence and pulled Penny into a soft embrace.

The smaller girl let out a small gasp, uncertain of herself. But Velvet clearly had no qualms about all of this. She kept Penny close and spoke softly to her.

"You're not the only one with secrets, Penny. I've lived with mine all my life, keeping some more skillfully than others," she confessed with a flick of her tall ears. "We've all got secrets. They're a part of us. And if we're going to accept each other, then we've got to accept the secrets as well."

She pulled away, maintaining her smile. "But don't worry. I understand yours is quite... sensitive. I won't tell a soul, Penny. It'll stay between us. But again, thank you for trusting me with it. I won't let you down."

Penny felt that strange sensation again. It was the same way she'd felt when Ruby had heard and accepted her secret.

"Oh..." With a surge of strength, Penny hugged Velvet as hard as she could. "Oh, thank you, Velvet! Thank you so much!"

Chuckling breathlessly, Velvet squeezed her in return.

"Don't mention it!"

Relief flooded over them both, one for having her secret accepted and the other for being entrusted with it. After all, friendship ran deeper than secrecy.

For a long moment, they remained in their soft embrace, surrounded by dancing wildflowers. Only when Penny seemed to realize something did she pull herself away.

"Oh! I should be getting home soon!"

Velvet happily let her go.

"Of course! Don't let me hold you back!"

Their eyes met, and there was a glint of secrets between them. Still smiling, Penny leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the Faunus girl's cheek.

"Thank you again, Velvet. For everything." She stood, and helped the other girl up with her. "Perhaps... we could even do it again sometime and go on another date!"

Velvet clapped her hands and gave a delighted little bounce.

"Penny, I would love to."

A/N: Sorry if it reads a bit awkwardly or something. It was a challenge to write these two when we still know so little about Velvet, but it was fun! Thanks for reading!

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