A/N: Fluff writing is harder than I remember.
Ever since Team CFVY had returned from their overnight 'camping trip' as they jokingly referred to it, Fox had been trying to work out whether certain things had actually happened, or if he'd only dreamt them. Like, for example, Coco kissing his ear. He'd been so startled by that that he'd half sat up, only to find that Velvet was rising to go on watch and Yatsuhashi was returning to bed.
Fox and Yatsuhashi resumed their original positions - lying on their sides, back to back. That left Fox facing Coco, at least until she rolled over and wiggled herself right up against him. Spooning. That's what Grandma Kitsune called it. Fox had to admit that it was warm, very pleasantly so. Even more so when he draped his left arm across Coco's midsection. She shifted slightly, and Fox imagined he heard a soft contented sigh escape her lips.
That might also have been a dream, because soon after he felt Velvet shaking him awake, so he could take his turn on watch. Branches and twigs seemed to be poking him everywhere, except his left hand. That was the one he'd put around his leader's waist. It had, however, somehow moved up her torso until it was resting on...
Moving slowly and carefully, Fox removed his hand from Coco's breast. She seemed to be asleep, and though she was both mischievous and flirtacious, Fox wasn't sure how she'd react if she thought he was taking liberties. Once free of dangerous entanglements, he crawled out of bed and went to join Velvet at the front of the shelter. It didn't occur to him that, as a Faunus, and so possessed of superior night vision, she had seen every detail of what had just happened.
His watch, and the rest of the night, passed uneventfully. The rain had stopped during Velvet's watch, and all Fox had to put up with was a chill breeze and the sound of dripping water. When day broke the others joined him, the fire was rekindled, and they waited, more or less patiently, until they were picked up. In that time Coco hadn't dropped any hints that anything significant had happened. Maybe she had been dreaming too, and thought she was kissing Spruce Willis or something.
Sitting at his desk in their dorm room, Fox shook himself and his thoughts back to the present.
He knew from direct examination that Coco was tall, slender, short haired and fine featured. Velvet had let him know that Coco's hair was brown, as were her eyes, and that her skin was a pale, milky white. Yatsuhashi had provided details on other parts of their leader that Fox hadn't felt comfortable asking Velvet about.
"She has a very nice backside," the giant had related, a grin evident in his voice. "Up top is good also. Quite perky, a high 'B' or low 'C' cup I'd say."
Fox shivered slightly. When he'd been examining Coco's battle gear he'd felt her legs and torso, taking care to avoid any intimate areas, but passing his fingertips close to some of them. A couple of times he'd heard a sharp intake of breath, and felt her tense, as if with anticipation.
"You missed a couple of spots," she'd teased when he was finished, and he'd blushed.
"Maybe next time," he'd retorted, and she'd laughed.
Idly, Fox flexed the fingers of his left hand, curling them as if grasping some invisible object. He jerked in surprise as Coco put her hands on his shoulders, leaned down, and whispered in his ear.
"Thinking of putting that hand back where it was the other night?" 'Wickedly amused' perfectly described the tone of her voice.
Fox felt himself blush, and was glad his dusky skin would hide the worst of it. Coco, her head still down next to his, snickered softly.
"Sure," Fox replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "This hand was the only part of me that wasn't uncomfortable, what with such a nice, soft cushion to protect it."
Coco laughed out loud then. "Good one," she conceded. Leaning back down, she stage whispered, "Wanna go for a walk? I think Velvet and Yatsuhashi could use some 'alone' time, if you know what I mean."
"Coco!" Velvet protested. "It's not like that...I...nnnn," the rabbit eared girl's words dissolved into groaning sigh, and Fox became aware of a peculiar, rapid drumming sound.
"What in the world is going on over there?" he asked, turning toward where Velvet and Yatsuhashi were sitting, on a couch that Coco had found and moved into the room. It was long enough for all four of them to sit on at once, if they didn't mind a little togetherness, and a pleasant change from the uncushioned high back chairs that came with the desks.
"Yatsuhashi has discovered that our little bun-bun likes to have her ears scratched," Coco said fondly. "She says that it's just very relaxing, but apparently, if he does it right, her leg starts twitching and her foot bounces up and down."
Fox 'stared' at the couch. He could 'see' it, and the basic shapes of his friends, and that Velvet and Yatsuhashi were sitting very close together; but not that Velvet was leaning against Yatsuhashi's side, her back arched as she pressed her head into his shoulder. Nor could he see Yatsuhashi's thick fingers gently stroking Velvet's hair while his thumb rubbed the base of one of her ears.
"Ya...Yats...Yatsu...ghnnng." Not for the first time, Fox found himself wishing he could still see, so he could know if the expression on Velvet's face matched the pleasure he could hear in her voice. In fact her tightly shut eyes and tooth baring grimace could easily have been mistaken for pain, if viewed out of context.
"Seriously, Fox, let's go for a walk," Coco repeated, her voice briefly devoid of its usual mischievousness. Fox rose in compliance and Coco bustled him toward the door.
"We'll be back in an hour or so," she announced, impish once more. "You kids have fun."
"Yatsuhashi, please," Velvet almost begged after the door clicked shut behind her departing teammates.
A touch reluctantly, Yatsuhashi stopped his rubbing and moved his hand down to rest on Velvet's hip. Velvet sagged in relief, then turned and snuggled herself even closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder, her face nuzzled against his broad chest.
"I love it when you do that," she murmured, her ears laid all the way back, her eyes closed. "It feels so nice," she added contentedly.
Yatsuhashi said nothing, just looked down at the tiny girl nestled under his arm and smiled. He'd seen Velvet a few times prior to initiation; there weren't many Faunus in the new class, and her rabbit ears really stood out. He'd considered introducing himself to her that first night, but hadn't for reasons he now almost considered cowardly.
Nor had he expected to be partnered with her. She'd been a good way down the line from him when they were launched into the forest, and he'd assumed the two of them would end up with whomever they landed closest to.
It hadn't worked out that way, though, and he was glad. At first, he'd worried that her shyness would make her useless as a partner. Then they'd run headlong into a boarbatusk, and she'd killed it before he even got his sword drawn. Shy Velvet might be, but she was far from useless.
Even then, Yatsuhashi hadn't considered a romantic attachment. Velvet was certainly attractive; Fox had been spot on when he called her cute. Still, she was a Faunus. Yatsuhashi had been raised to regard Faunus as equals, and his parents really seemed to believe that, but in more of a 'equal but separate' sense, which had inevitably rubbed off on their son. Especially his mother, who clucked in disapproval whenever she saw a mixed species couple.
Liking Velvet as a friend had happened quickly. Her shyness and propensity for blushing made her absolutely adorable, and her accent was captivating; it made anything she said sound interesting. Her gentle, caring nature did the rest.
Liking her as more than a friend was a possibility that he'd only become aware of in the last few days. As Coco had said, he'd discovered that Velvet liked having her ears scratched. They'd been walking between classes when he'd noticed her ears twitching in a way he hadn't seen before. When he asked about it, she'd said that they itched, but she was carrying too many books to scratch them just then.
"I could do that," he'd said.
"Would you?" she'd said with a kind of desperate urgency.
He did, and she was grateful, and that was that - he hadn't thought any more of it.
Until that same night when, painfully shyly, blushing an alarming shade of red, she'd wondered if he might not scratch her ears again. Puzzled but willing, he'd complied. The contented sighs that escaped her lips made it clear that she enjoyed his touch. The little kiss she'd planted on his cheek afterward, and the bright blush that followed it, suggested that she might ask him to do it again. The way his heart pounded in his chest after she kissed him suggested he might want to do it again.
He was right on both counts, and if something happening three evenings in a row could be called a ritual, ear scratching followed by a kiss on the cheek was becoming a Velvet/Yatsuhashi thing.
A slight movement drew Yatsuhashi out of his thoughts. Velvet's ears had risen to the three-quarters up position, and she was gazing up at him.
He smiled at her, and she blushed. She lowered her eyes briefly, then looked up again. She bit her lower lip, hesitantly. He'd say that it was time for her to give him his peck on the cheek, before she got ready for bed, but they had started early tonight, and it was far too soon for that.
"Yatsuhashi?" she said, cheeks burning, eyes...smoldering?
"Yes, Velvet?" he returned, heart thudding hard, hands suddenly trembling.
"I was wondering," she stammered, her blush deepening, "if it would be all right, if you could kiss me?"
Yatsuhashi sucked in a ragged breath. His head moved so he was nose to nose with his partner, gazing into her large, brown eyes.
"I think that would be all right," he said softly.
Velvet raised herself up.
Yatsuhashi met her half way.
"So what do you think they're doing?" Fox asked as he and Coco strolled down Beacon's central plaza. It was a pleasant evening, and there were plenty of other students out and about.
"No idea," Coco said. When Fox gave her a quizzical 'look' she laughed lightly. "Kissing, maybe," she allowed. "They're both too old fashioned to go right to the horizontal bop. Besides, Velvet might be saving herself for marriage, on account of her religion."
That surprised Fox. "She's religious? I hadn't noticed."
"She's not pushy about it," Coco explained. "But she reads from her holy book every morning, and every night before she goes to bed. Prays then, too."
"Where?" Fox was puzzled. He'd never 'seen' or heard any sign of such an activity.
"In her bunk, after she lies down. She doesn't say anything out loud, but I've seen the folded hands. Oh, look, those guys are playing Ultimate Frisbee. Let's see if we can join them." Coco's sudden change of subject caught fox off guard.
"Uh, sure, why not," he said as he allowed Coco to lead him in a new direction. "But, uh, what religion is she?"
Coco answered his question with another question. "What's the most common religion among Faunus?"
"Oh, yeah," Fox nodded. "They aren't really hung up about sex, though."
"Prudishness and religion don't automatically go together, Fox," Coco chided. "Not that Velvet's a prude. Shy and reserved, yes, but not a prude. And I think she really, really likes Yatsuhashi. If he chooses to pursue the matter, and I think he will, I don't think her resolve will last long."
Fox was silent, thinking.
"You don't think that's a good idea?" Coco was completely serious again.
"It's not really my place to say, one way or they other," Fox said slowly. "I just wonder if they aren't rushing things. I mean, they've known each other, what, two whole weeks? And what if it doesn't work out? What if they crash and burn? How awkward would that be for the next four years?"
Coco sounded thoughtful when she replied. "Well, love at first sight does happen once in a while in real life. Teams can and do split up. And it would certainly be awkward. But what if it does work out?"
Fox chuckled. "That could be awkward too. I mean, what would we do? Get them a full sized bed? Take a walk whenever they were feeling frisky?"
"We could get our own full sized bed and join in the fun," Coco suggested archly.
"I knew you were going to say that," Fox said, shaking his head. "What will you do if I take you up on one of your suggestive offers?"
He could feel Coco's teasing grin. "You'll have to try if you want to find out," she said.
Fox laughed. "Let's go play Ultimate," he said.