(A/N) Hey, guys. Unfortunately, due to some recent developments in my personal life and my slowly deteriorating mental state, the next update may be a few days late. May. On the bright side, I had this prepared because I knew something like this was bound to happen eventually, where something would prevent me from keeping my normal schedule, so to satiate you guys for a bit longer until I can get the main chapter out, I prepared this one shot as a kind of… cover. This short story will act as a temporary replacement for the next chapter until I can get it out. However, I want to remind you all that it's still pretty early in the month, and things can easily turn around enough for me to focus on chapter 2.6, upgrade the currently shoddy quality, and HOPEFULLY get it out on time. Either way, it won't be too late of an update.

Thanks for understanding, my Beautiful Hunters, and don't worry. I promise I'm fine. This is only a temporary development and will be done and over with pretty soon.

I really do need this time to make sure this next chapter is the best it can be since it is a major turning point in War of OA, and everything that's said or done within it will affect every other aspect of the story. If it's not how I want it, if it's not absolutely perfect, then the rest of the plot will be affected negatively and nothing will work out properly. Again, thanks for understanding. I promise the wait won't be too long, Beautiful Hunters.

Enjoy!

Fighting for a United Cause: A Tale of Shameless Fluff

It wasn't very often when Team RWBY could sit down and enjoy and get together peacefully, but Weiss had put so much effort into making Grey's birthday special that no one gave her any problems. Actually, contrary to the norm, their friends had even helped her plan, adding their own small touches.

Grey was sitting in a makeshift throne at the back of the dorm that Blake and Ren had made entirely out of their books, Nora's bath towel draped around his shoulders as a cape. Yang had even snagged a Sandwich Queen crown from the fast food restaurant and propped it up on his head. Ruby was currently chatting with Sun and Neptune after handing them a pair of toy katanas, a cheerful smile on her face that plastered a goofy grin on to Grey's, and even Weiss looked happy enough to crack a smirk. He hadn't expected anyone to put so much work into treating him like he mattered so much, or even how Yang knew that his birthday was on November 21st so she could tell Weiss about it, but if he was being honest, it made him happy. He didn't realize he wanted this until it happened. However, what really made him happy wasn't that everyone was showing him how much they cared about him, but that they were all smiling, laughing, and just generally having a good time all because his birth giver had shot him out of her baby cannon eighteen years ago.

He blushed furiously as Ruby gave him another kiss on the cheek and went to talk to Sun and Neptune who were chatting up Blake and Yang respectively. He tried to distract himself by focusing intently on Penny accidentally crash into Pyrrha who was awkwardly yet adorably flirting with Jaune. Not that he was complaining about it, but it wasn't a tradition he had heard of before. Kissing the birthday boy throughout the day as many times as he was old? He definitely enjoyed it if it was coming from Ruby, and maybe he could get the other three members of Team RWBY involved in it if he was lucky, particularly Weiss, but it seemed like something a girlfriend would do to her boyfriend. He pushed the unsettling thought down, his heart beating hard against his chest, but it gave him an idea. If Ruby was so set on kissing him another three times before he went to bed that night, then maybe he could trick her at least once into kissing him on the lips by turning his head at the last minute.

Neptune switched on the stereo and began playing a hard rock song from Set Apart and jumped into the middle of the dance floor where Yang was already shaking it. Sun grinned, and Grey caught the wink he shared with his teammate, seeing that Neptune was being a wingman breaking the ice, before holding his hand to Blake who graciously accepted it. Grey narrowed his eyes cleverly at their wit. From the raised seat he was in, he could see everything in the room, every single twitch, every single quirk and idiosyncrasy. Grinning, he propped his head on his fist and watched Yang dance as she casted the occasional jealous glance to her partner. Of course, Blake caught them and turned her back to Sun, grinding against him. A competition? No, judging by the way Yang turned away from Blake and wrapped her arms around Neptune, her body pressing against his dangerously close, he figured there was something more there. Then, he saw something else that grabbed his attention.

Weiss had her back turned to him but was just within arm's reach as she checked her scroll, making sure everything was going was running smoothly with the caterers in the kitchen. Frantically, Grey slapped his hand in her general direction, not taking his eyes off of the pair he was looking at. Unfortunately, he hadn't been too aware of where he was smacking, and received a quick slap across the face, but she quickly apologized to him when she realized he wasn't intentionally trying to cop a feel.

"What do you want, moron?" she asked harshly, sitting on the arm rest next to him, leaning against his shoulder with her arm draped lightly against him.

"Look," he whispered loud enough to be heard over the music but quiet enough to not be heard by anyone else, "Do you see it? What she just did?" Weiss gasped when she saw what he was pointing out.

"Is that… is that Pyrrha dancing with Jaune?" she bellowed incredulously.

"I know right?! Finally!" Grey kicked his feet and squealed happily like a schoolgirl, making Weiss giggle embarrassedly, but he stopped as quickly as he started, his face going slack, "Hey, he's actually pretty good." Grey mentally took notes, watching him expertly move his feet as if he were mixing a jazz square with salsa.

"Oh, yeah, he really is. Who knew?" Weiss agreed. A chill went up her spine when she felt eyes on her, and looked down at Grey, a blush creeping along her cheeks at the lascivious way he was smirking at her.

"Hey," he said smoothly, "How about a kiss for the birthday boy? You're not going to let Ruby have all the fun, are you?" Grey had been serious, and he was praying that she would have taken the bait, but it looked like he had been a bit too forward with her, seeing her face grow even redder than before, her mouth gaping in shock. Her eyes glazed over in panic. It even looked like her hip length ivory hair had stood straight, sparks flying off of her body in fear at the overly direct advance.

"Hey! Does it seem like the caterers are taking too long? I feel like they're taking too long. Are you hungry? I'm hungry. I'm going to check on them!" she rambled violently before stepping out of the room.

"Dude," Ruby said next to him with a cheeky smile, making Grey jump, "You know you can't be that direct with her. You have to be subtle with her and flank her weak points to get what you want from her." Grey laughed at how confident she was coming off.

"Is that how you got her to wear that 'Ruby's Bestie' shirt?" he teased.

"Actually, yes! But instead of coming onto her like you, I used subliminal messaging and the power of suggestion while she was sleeping. Did the same thing to Yang so she gives me money whenever I ask." Ruby said that so casually, not missing a single step in her explanation, that Grey immediately tucked his tail between his legs, unable to find any falsehood in her story.

"You… you scare me, you know that?" he cowered. She nodded and leaned in one more time to add one more number to her new tradition.

"If that's the case, I think you owe me another kiss," she said playfully. Grey's breath caught in his throat, his heart stopping for just the briefest second as he turned his head without giving himself any time to reconsider his actions. When her lips hit his, she froze, blinking. She didn't move for one second, two, three, then jumped away from him, gasping dramatically. She slapped his shoulder a few times, shouting profanities at him. Grey just sat there laughing in accomplishment, having no shame as he took cover from her tirade, and making sure it was abundantly clear to her that he had no regrets.

"Hey, everyone!" Weiss said, running back into the room like a hurricane and clapping her hands for everyone's attention. Neptune and Sun, who had been kicked off the dance floor, turned off the music for the woman, grateful to have an excuse to separate Blake and Yang who had left them for each other, everyone gathering around the door. Weiss smiled confidently. Standing on a group of twelve packs by the door, she spread her hands and theatrically began giving a clearly rehearsed speech. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the spawning of our favorite leech of a roommate! The fly on the wall who sneaks into our rooms in the middle of the night to interrupt us masturbating, or in Ren and Nora's case, pretending not to see that they're stealing each other's underwear."

"This took a turn I wasn't expecting," Pyrrha guffawed as everyone around her broke down, even Grey cackling madly at his roast.

"Ah, yes! How could anyone forget him? His silly antics of accidentally walking in on Yang when she's changing, or sneaking pics of Blake's lusty face as she reads smut literature? How could any of us live without him constantly stealing bites of our food when he thinks we're not looking or his gift of being too lazy to cover up his exams so we can cheat off of him? And let's not forget how he graces the bathroom! The way the dorms have to be evacuated for radiation poisoning every night we have tacos? It gave me the perfect excuse to get the nose job you all know I had three weeks ago."

"I knew it!" Nora shouted, Weiss scoffing at the tease but not missing a beat.

"I can't remember a time when I wasn't constantly being reminded that I'm not the prissiest one in the room when I see him disembowel his closet looking for just the perfect outfit. Do you know how many times he checks himself out in the mirror? Sure, I've met certain portly professors we all know and love that are less self absorbed than he is, but can you really blame Grey for obsessing over his appearance? If I had eyebrows that thick, I would pluck them four times a day, too!" Weiss grinned as she saw everyone, especially Grey, doubling over in laughter, Sun even rolling on the floor and Ruby crying into her hood out of humor. Then, she slowed it down. "But, really. Let's be serious for a second. What would we do without him? During the entrance exam, he saved each and everyone of our lives, and continues to do it every day. Yang wouldn't be passing Oobleck's class without him-"

"That's true," Yang admitted.

"-Jaune wouldn't have found his semblance after Pyrrha awakened his aura-"

"I'm still not sure how it works," Jaune confessed.

"And I…" Weiss faltered for a second, blinking as she realized just what she was about to say, and freezing up. She had written this part in, dedicated to saying it, but when she actually came to that bridge, she found it a bit difficult to cross it. Opening up like this was difficult to her. Regrettably she knew that after beginning the statement, she couldn't stop anymore. Nervously, she swallowed her pride, knowing there was no turning back. "And I wouldn't have met my best… my best friend without him."

Everyone went silent for a second. It didn't take long for them to figure out who she was talking about, and they all turned to Ruby who was tearing up pathetically, blubbering as she stood up from Grey's lap and ran over to the princess with her arms out. Weiss squeaked at the weight of the girl as she crashed into her.

"Oh, my god! I love you too Weiss! You're my best friend!" Ruby sobbed hideously. Weiss glanced up at everyone uncomfortably, each of them looking at her with love in their eyes at the pair, Pyrrha even wiping a tear. Stiffly, Weiss patted Ruby's shoulders.

"OK, that's enough," Weiss muttered, "I have to introduce the food now."

"Oh, heck yeah!" Sun shouted, "What is it?! Some kind of fancy stuff that rich people eat? Is it roast duck?! Please tell me it's roast duck!"

"Nope!" Weiss said with an evil grin, her eyes leveling on Grey's as the caterers pushed in a few carts with steaming hot dishes, "It's six cheese macaroni with shell pasta and andouille sausage cut up inside of it." Grey didn't even hesitate to run across the room and pick up Weiss in a bear hug.

"Macaroni and cheese and hot dogs?!" he shrieked, "I love you!"

"W-what?!" Ruby and Weiss squeaked simultaneously.

"What? Um… noth-nothing," he stammered, "Just hand it over!"

The group gathered around a collapsable table that had been set up by the staff in the center of the dorm. Sneakily, a few members of the group eyeballed everyone in the room, thinking fondly how everyone seemed to have set themselves next to their crush, lacking all self awareness that they had done the same. Blake sat in between Yang and Sun and was shifting her attention in between them. Neptune had the misfortune of trying to get Yang's attention while she was doing the same to annoy her and her crush on the monkey faunus next to her, the lack of focus on him alone a blatant message that he was out of his league. On the other side of the table, Team JNPR was having the same party. Nora was aggressively flirting with Ren who would mostly ignored her until he found just the right phrase to catch her off guard and have her face burn hot as she quietly buried her face in her food. Jaune and Pyrrha were sitting just next to them, oblivious to everyone as they lovingly stared in each other's eyes.

As the clique devoured the dishes that were so good they saw the face of God for a second and sung happy birthday to Grey, Ruby and Weiss took their places at Grey's side all three of them looking happier than they ever had before. Ruby was sitting in Grey's lap again, smiling widely and laughing like a maniac. While giving Grey his last few kisses, she and Weiss bantered with each other, both of them behaving kindly with one another for once, Weiss even giving Ruby the grace of a reserved chuckle at her off color jokes. As for Grey, he wanted to continue being ignored by them as much as possible so he could simply enjoy the gorgeous view. On his eighteenth birthday, Weiss and Ruby becoming friends was the best thing he could have possibly hoped for, watching them with a tender smile on his lips. As time slowly passed, as the day began to wind down and the energetic celebration made way for a relaxed siesta, everyone curling into the side of their chosen partners, Grey silently wondered if anyone else in the room had caught him, Ruby and Weiss holding each other's hands under the table.

(A/N) I think it's safe to say that this is more or less canon. Technically, it's not supposed to be, but considering this one-shot is entirely inconsequential to the main storyline, there's no reason to consider it non-canon.

Do with this what you will, Beautiful Hunters. I promise the extra wait for chapter 2.6 won't be too long. Oh! And as a side note, Act 2 will be 8 chapters long, meaning we have another 3 to go before we get to Act 3!

Lastly, to address a guest's review I forgot about in the last update (I'M SORRYYYYYYYY), yes. Grey is going to get a huge power up very soon, as well as some major character development. Unfortunately, next chapter is going to be entirely plot for obvious reasons, so the power up and character development won't come until just a bit later. Soon, but not in the next update.

Have a good two to three weeks, Beautiful Hunters!