Pacing back and forth across the tiled flooring of the apartment, Blake cast a glare at her decidedly unhelpful blonde friend, who simply looked on with amusement as the black-haired faunus paced. After about another two minutes of agitated pacing, she wheeled about on her foot, jabbing an accusatory finger in Yang's face. "So you seriously mean to tell me you won't give me any advice?!"

Much to Blake's dismay, Yang actually laughed. "Yep, that's what I said. I've got three life rules: One, nobody touches the hair, two, don't take any shit from anyone and three, don't fuck around in other people's love lives. Sorry man, but this is out of my hands." She said dismissively, then, seeing the other girl's distress, gave her an apologetic look. "Again, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to woo her on your own."

Blake groaned, a long, drawn out declaration of her frustrations, and went over to the couch, flopping onto it and burying her face in the pillow there, trying her best not to scream into it. Yang gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.

"What am I supposed to do for someone that can already get whatever she wants?! This is hopeless!" She all but wailed, weakly punching her long-time best friend in the side. "You suck!"

"More than you, that's for sure." The blonde laughed deviously, and, face flushed, Blake quickly removed her hands from the taller girl.

She made a face and made a show of wiping her hands off on her old band T-shirt. "Gross, I can't believe I've given you handshakes before, I don't know where you've been. You and your heterosexual lifestyle. So gross. " She snarked, and Yang laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry, I think it's safe to say I bat for every team by this point. I've been plenty of places."

"Yang, this is not a contest!" Blake whined. With anyone else, she'd be mortified about the display she was currently giving, but she'd practically known Yang since they came out of the womb; there was no dignity in their friendship. Not now, or ever. "I don't need to know how much action you've gotten, I need to know how you got them to go out with you! Or, you know, at least how you managed to win the trickier ones over… This first date is important, you know."

The blonde heaved a deep sigh. "Tell you what. Go ask Rubes. My little sis knows all my tricks, because my three rules don't apply to her, since she's my sister. She won't have any problems spilling – not to mention her type of romance is right up your alley." She grinned devilishly, and Blake braced herself for teasing. "That is to say, hand-holding."

The faunus girl rolled her eyes at the little quip, but accepted it. "Thanks, asshole." She gave Yang a quick grin as she made her way for the door, which Yang returned with her usual shit-eating version of said grin.

"Anytime, nerd!"

Blake breathed out a quick sigh as she closed the door behind her, a mixture of relief and contentment. She made her way down the hall towards the parking garage at a quick pace, steps echoing off the empty halls. It was to be expected, at 10pm. Still, she knew exactly where Ruby would be.

Wasting little time in kicking her jet-black motorcycle into gear, she started for the arcade. Ruby had been trying (read, failing) to get the high score on one of the games in there for months now, the top score still belonging firmly to some girl named Penny, who was kind of…infamous. Not in a bad way, or anything, but Penny was sort of known to, well, never leave the arcade. Rumors had spread that she must live inside one of the game cabinets, or something.

The black haired girl pulled up at the arcade knowing she would probably have to drag Ruby out by force. It didn't close until eleven, and while Blake would really rather not spill out her love life in a public area, she also wasn't too keen on waiting an hour for it to close and for Ruby to be kicked out anyways.

She walked in quietly, giving her bow a subtle tug as she saw a few people's eyes turn towards her. Ruby was stationed in the back of the arcade, in front of the game "Grimm Eclipse", with multiple onlookers, and a familiar, taller brunette with bunny ears wrapping her arms around the shorter girl's waist. Oh, yeah, she almost forgot Ruby had landed herself a girl, too.

Her attention snapped to a redheaded girl next to her, who was muttering the combinations Ruby was using under her breath, occasionally tilting her head curiously as something happened on the screen. "She was supposed to take a left by two coordinates and hit the Beowolf with a double smash attack….." The girl mumbled, a slight, almost indistinguishable grin coming onto her face. Blake carefully sidestepped away from her, sneaking another glance at Ruby and her girlfriend.

'How is everyone managing this except me?!' Blake whined internally, but externally she simply tapped Velvet's shoulder. "Mind if I butt in?"

Velvet shook her head. "Be my guest. I've been trying to pull her away to play some DDR forever by now; it wouldn't hurt if someone else took the console when she leaves it for a moment." She added the last part loudly, flicking an ear in the direction of the crowd in hopes that one of them would get the hint. Indeed, a line of people holding quarters nodded sagely at the suggestion.

For the umpteenth time that night, Blake rolled her eyes, and unceremoniously pulled Ruby away from the game cabinet by her iconic red hoodie.

"H-hey, hey, hey! Wait, I was – I was so close! Noooooooooooooo!" Ruby let out an agonized cry, as if she could feel it when her avatar was quickly devoured by a horde of the monsters in the game, the bird ones Blake recognized as Nevermores. "Blake, how could you! Have you no soul? Are you actually a Grimm? Why would you do such a thing?!"

Blake disregarded the questions, pulling the couple outside of the arcade and towards her motorcycle. She gestured to the sidecar and then the two. "Which of you is riding on the back, and which is taking the 'car?" Velvet hesitantly stepped towards the sidecar.

"I don't ride motorcycles as often, so I think I'd feel better in here…" She trailed off purposefully, and the other two girls simply nodded their agreement, Ruby pressing a quick kiss to Velvet's forehead once she'd sat down in the sidecar before hopping onto the back of the motorcycle herself.

If nothing else, Blake was glad she had friends that didn't question her until they arrived at her apartment. It would have been a pain to drive with two whining girls on the motorcycle with her.

"So," Ruby asked finally, once they'd gotten safely into Blake's home, "Why'd you kidnap us from the arcade?" From behind her, near the doorway, Velvet perked up, and moved to stand behind her girlfriend, clearly interested in the conversation.

Well, there was no point wasting anyone's time. "I need to know how to plan a date, and you're my best bet. Yang wouldn't spill any tips, so I thought maybe Ruby knew, and it works out even better considering you two have been together for a while."

Velvet's interest was piqued. "Oh, you're going on a date!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands together like a proud mother, "Who's the lucky one?"

The black-haired faunus tried to blank-face the question, succeeding fairly well as the brown-haired faunus tried her best to get her to spill it. She knew that if Ruby got involved and gave her those puppy-dog eyes, it would all be over. And Velvet knew, too. "I'll offer you mercy if you tell me now," She warned.

Blake narrowed her eyes. She could do this. She was ready.

Turning to Ruby, Velvet gave the younger girl a short thumbs up, which was returned before said girl was stationed directly in front of Blake. 'Don't look at her face. Don't look at the eyes.' Those life-sucking silver eyes, and their mysterious ability to get people to do whatever Ruby wanted, would not draw out her date's name without a fight. The two stared each other down for a bit. While this went on, Velvet raided Blake's fridge, taking out a bag of those small carrots and snacking on them as she waited, amused smile on her face.

But eventually, Blake was no match. Ruby's lip quivered, and her eyes seemed to get almost impossibly big, before Blake looked away guiltily, unwilling to face the music. One more glance over at her, and she admitted defeat. "Fine," Blake started sulkily. "I'll tell you who I'm going on a date with if you promise not to be weird about it. And," She added, "You have to give me dating advice. Once I tell you, there's no backing out. You hear me?"

"Yeah! Loud and clear!" Ruby said enthusiastically, eyes shining with excitement. Beside her, Velvet nodded eagerly, still chewing on some of the carrots.

Blake took a deep breath, and exhaled. "My date…is Weiss Schnee."

Velvet almost choked on her snack.

Ruby's jaw had dropped, and she still had enough of her wits about her to shout even as she tried to keep Velvet from choking to death. "Blake! Oh my god!"

"I have a good reason…?" Blake tried weakly. It was a weak attempt because it was a lie. It wasn't a matter of life or death, or even a matter of finding information. She just wanted to go out with the pretty girl she'd met at the art showing down in Vale; the fact that she'd exchanged numbers and planned a date with a Schnee hadn't even crossed her mind until she got home that night. And it damn near gave her a heart attack when she did realize.

So now, of course, she was scrambling for any scraps of dating tips she could get, since they'd planned to meet up tomorrow and have a fun night out, or, whatever the right term was.

"What kind of reason is good enough to justify – you know what, nevermind, I'm just surprised, I thought you hated the SDC….what happened?" Velvet finally recovered enough to be curious, tipping her head to the side, and Ruby mimicked the action, the two looking at Blake like confused children.

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate the SDC. Just, not, her…? I just – ugh, I don't know! She's hot, isn't that reason enough?!" The black haired girl crossed her arms, frustrated with her friends. Or maybe she was really just frustrated with herself….

Velvet let out a sigh, like she was resigning herself to the issue. "Okay, okay, we did say we'd help…but before that, I need to know: does she know you're a faunus? I don't think it would go over well if you get to…err, that point of a relationship, and it just comes out unexpectedly. Especially with her."

Blake looked away, not willing to admit that Velvet was right and not willing to make eye contact with the other faunus. "Well, no, but…I can make it work! Trust me, I'll tell her on the first date, and I'm sure it will go over well, and if it doesn't –"

"I'll beat her up for you!" Ruby cut in, raising her arm in a fist pump. Blake shot her a look. Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I wanted to be in on the conversation…." She muttered lamely. Velvet gave her a reassuring smile and rubbed her shoulder a little. Ruby blushed. Velvet moved in for a kiss, and then –

"…By all means, just make out in my apartment. When you're done, I could still really use that dating advice, but hey, it's whatever." Blake said dryly, and the couple jolted, taking a break from cuddling each other to death.

"R-right! Dating advice!" Velvet stammered, ears flattened momentarily as she nervously laughed off the jibe at herself and Ruby's weak flirting. "Ahem. Dating advice, right." She spoke more clearly the second time, then pushed Ruby in front of Blake, since the younger (and shorter) girl had been hiding behind her. "Ruby, why don't you give our friend some dating advice! I have to uh, pee. Yeah. Over there. In the bathroom. Be right back!"

Once the brunette had evacuated the room, Blake looked to Ruby expectantly, raising an eyebrow.

Ruby shifted around on her feet nervously, before shaking her head, and looking up with new determination. "Alright! If you wanna woo this Weiss chick, you gotta keep the three C's in mind, got it?!"

"The three….C's?" Blake repeated, wondering what the term could possibly mean.

Ruby just nodded sagely in response, crossing her arms confidently and sticking her chest out a little, eyes closed to finish the pose. "Yeah, three C's! Clean, Cute, and Cookies! Duh."

"I need actual advice, Ruby. Though I appreciate the thought, could you maybe just repeat Yang's?" Blake tried helplessly. Ruby quickly shook her head, dropping out of the 'cool guy' pose instantaneously.

"No, no, just hear me out! I don't know if Yang's, err, go-getter style, is really your thing. So just consider these, too, okay? I promise I'll tell you what she said too if you really think they're bad." She paused to emphasize it, looking to Blake until she received a nod from the older girl that meant she could continue. She grinned and straightened up, pretending to be a teacher. "Ahem. First, clean – just make sure you like nice for the date and all, it's basically common sense! If you can, try to smell nice too, though. Second is cute, which is pretty self-explanatory, and the third is cookies because everybody likes a little gift, y'know? It doesn't have to be cookies, but most people are down for a few sweets, and it's definitely a sweet little gesture….get it?"

"Ruby, just…no. That was a bad pun. I guess the advice part isn't terrible, though." Blake mused. She tried to imagine how the date would go that way, picturing the scene in her mind.

She would ask to meet up with Weiss in front of the movie theater, a bag of pre-prepared sweets in hand from the bakery nearby. She'd present them to the white-haired girl, who would eye them curiously and ask, 'Did you make these yourself?'

Blake, being the dashing and honest young woman she was, would reply in her most attractive tone, 'No, I got them at the bakery for fifteen ninety-five because everything I cook ends up as a pile of ashes in the oven.' Weiss would slap her and leave.

"I need Yang's dating advice." Blake said abruptly, her face red as a tomato, as if she'd received an actual slap. Seeing Ruby's dejected look, she quickly clarified. "I just don't think I can go for your cutesy approach, is all! I mean, I'm not really….the 'cutesiest' of people…." She trailed off awkwardly and Ruby nodded in a slow understanding.

"Hmmm…I guess you're right, I should know, after that one time I tried to get you to dress up as a magical girl with me for Halloween. I didn't think it was even possible to look so deadpan with that many frills and sparkles on the outfit!" The redhead recalled, and Blake was forced to remember the incident herself in vivid detail. It was horrible. Yang had practically bust a gut laughing when she saw her come out with Ruby, and other trick-or-treaters actually ran away from her. Worst. Halloween. Ever.

She hurriedly tried to change the topic. "Could we not talk about my chronic case of resting bitch face less than twenty-four hours before my date?"

"Aww, why not?" Ruby teased, leaning against the wall with a cheesy grin. It wasn't the same level of cocky ridiculousness that Yang pulled off in her grins, but let's just say Blake was definitely seeing the family resemblance. "And it's not a total bitch face, just a 'moderately disinterested, probably thinking about something way different', type face! Which is probably at least a little bit better."

Blake remained silent. It didn't take Ruby long to start squirming.

A few more moments of silence, and Ruby cracked. "Aww, man, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, don't cry! I'm so-r-r-yyyy...!" The girl slumped into Blake, startling the black-haired faunus.

"Jeez, you look like you're about to cry. Calm down, Ruby, I was just teasing you back."

"Oh." Embarrassed, Ruby straightened herself up. "Right, then, I'll get to Yang's dating advice, but remember, maybe don't take all of it completely seriously? Because, she follows this stuff like, religiously, but she's also, y'know. Yang. It's her normal personality."

Steeling herself for the advice, Blake nodded, and Velvet drifted back into the room, looking a bit calmer. She positioned herself behind Ruby, an arm slung around her girlfriend's shoulder. Ruby grinned up at her before getting on with the explaining.

"Alright, here are Yang's dating pointers. One, pick a good venue for your date! She says preferably one that will get them in the mood for…uh, y'know. Doin' the do." Velvet coughed, and Ruby flushed but continued. "B-but mostly just anywhere that would suit the date's interest! Two, have a lot of back-ups for failed advances. Date doesn't want to kiss you yet? Say you were offering the candy, and make them think their head was in the gutter, and that you weren't 'totally trying to get some tongue action'." She put air quotes around that part, so Blake took it to mean those had been Yang's exact words.

Which, frankly, didn't surprise her.

"Anyways! Three was, ummm….three was to make sure you 'bring your A game', which I think just means you're supposed to flirt whenever you can? Basically she explained it to me as look really attractive and hit on them whenever the opportunity arises. Now that I think about it, that's…that's pretty much what all of her advice sums up to. Huh." Ruby tipped her head to the side, apparently thinking about it hard.

Blake did the same, bringing a hand to her chin and trying to imagine how her date would go if she tried to use it on the date.

She would ask Weiss to meet her at dinner, probably the 80s themed one with the jukeboxes. Ahead of time, she would put in about ten dollars' worth of the most romantic tracks she could find among their weird music collection and probably end up with like five tracks from some crappy 70s throwback movie, that was now an 80s throwback movie.

Weiss would show up fashionably late, and give an excuse about business keeping her from coming, and Blake would reply with a grin and a wisecrack about having 'other' business to attend to later. Weiss would probably take it as a joke and laugh.

In real time, Blake smiled. This date wasn't going as bad as the last. She continued the scenario in her mind.

Weiss would probably be wearing something attractive seeing as it was a dinner date and not an afternoon one. Blake would compliment her on it, and then fish around her memories of all the times she'd awkwardly third-wheeled Yang's dates for any successful pick-up lines she had seen in action. 'Nice legs, babe. What time do they open?' Offended, Weiss would slap her and leave.

Blake winced. "Shit, so that probably won't work either…dammit…."

Meanwhile, her friends were looking on in confusion. "Blake? Hello? You kind of zoned out, there…" Velvet trailed off uncertainly, and Blake was forced to snap back to reality, except she was desperate now.

"Velvet! Please tell me you have dating advice!" She all but launched herself at the taller girl, placing her hands on her shoulders despairingly.

"W-wait, what?!" The rabbit faunus backed herself up to a wall anxiously, and Blake pursued her and got up in her personal space, eyes pleading. She needed this dating advice. Bad.

"Ummm….be yourself?" She tried weakly. Blake looked at her incredulously, and Ruby just edged closer to the two, probably torn between being the moderator or getting flustered over Velvet getting flustered. "No, I'm serious!" Velvet asserted, and Blake backed down a little, shame-faced but still confused with the advice she was getting. "Look, if you're this worried about it, and nobody's advice sounds good enough to you, then why don't you just try planning the date how you'd do it? You didn't like Ruby's puppy love approach – as cute as I think it is – and I don't think you've got Yang's gung-ho, center-of-attention party crasher attitude in you, so maybe just, do whatever you want?"

"That…that actually hadn't occurred to me." Well jeez, Velvet sure knew how to make a girl feel stupid. It probably wasn't intentional, though. Frustrated, Blake moved over to the couch to take a seat and think about it for a second.

Seeing this, Ruby hurried over to the couch, quite literally dragging Blake off it. "Ooooh, no you don't! Stop trying to micromanage how your date is going to pan out, and just pick a spot and let it all happen tomorrow! It's like, eleven thirty, and you're moody when you don't get enough sleep, so if you don't chill out and rest now your date will suffer for it no matter what you end up doing."

Velvet hummed her agreement, checking the time for herself and then glancing at the door.

Blake sighed, but gave the duo a quick smile. "Good point. And I assume you two are both pretty tired by now, as well. Thanks for the tips; sorry for dragging you two to my house." She said apologetically.

They shrugged. "Well, I raided your fridge," Velvet started, and then Ruby flashed something suspiciously round and crumbly from out of her pocket and agreed, "And I raided your cookie jar! So we pretty much break even, heheh. But seriously, don't sweat it. All that's left to do now is wish you good luck! We'll see you later!" The shorter girl gave a mock salute to Blake, tugging Velvet out on the way with her – their apartment was only just down the hall, anyways, so it's not like Blake had inconvenienced them terribly.

They left, and she stayed standing in the kitchen area for a little bit, before heaving a deep sigh and going to get into her pajamas. Ruby was right. If she was going to be any good tomorrow, she needed sleep now.

Her last thought before drifting off was to wonder if she should have set an alarm.


AN: Hooray for introduction chapters! So, more about the story, this is basically just real life AU except I kept the faunus in because of Super Important Plot Reasons (read, I just like keeping them in these things I'm so soRRY). Anyways, I probably won't have much of an update schedule for this, but chapter two is already finished so I'm really just trying to bide my time here. You know what they say, inspiration hits fast and hard, and all that. I like to have chapters to fall back on in case of writer's block. Even if I usually get too impatient to keep the back up chapters un-posted, heheh. In other news, I'm not really loving the title but it's the best I could come up with, so let's call it a working title for now. Anyways, I'll respond to reviews with questions/corrections or constructive criticism in them with PMs unless you a) ask me not to, in which case I'll respect your wishes, b) are on anonymous, or c) have a question that I feel like answering down in the AN section of the next chapter, so that everyone can see the answer. Sooo uh, that about wraps it up! Thanks for reading, hopefully see you next chapter!