Chapter 23…

While the grimm breach in Vale had been a horrifying event, a silver lining came in the form of all classes being postponed for a week; the Beacon faculty had been placed on emergency call to Vale in case of recurring grimm presence. Thankfully, the city hadn't been placed in official lockdown, but there were still plenty of repairs to be made to Vale's infrastructure.

"Gah!" Sage whined. "No more noob combos!"

"It's an effective tactic!" Honey snarked, controller clicking as she viciously smacked buttons.

One final crack from Honey's digital sniper ended the match, the round meeting with the head of Sage's soldier. The final killcam only cemented Sage's disappointment in his loss, the scene playing again for him to mull over.

Sage turned to give Honey an irate look, she stuck her tongue out at him and smirked.

"Fine… you win," Sage grumbled, setting down his controller. The two had commandeered MARS' dorm room to play videogames again. Rust and Vermillion had gone out for a coffee at Team MARS' favorite haunt, the same one Asher had introduced them to. Lavender and Teal were nowhere to be found and Mauve had accompanied Asher for his next volunteering session in the Beacon kitchens. Rust had teased them incessantly about the "suggestiveness" of their activity, much to their chagrin.

"Oh cheer up…" Honey chuckled, she tapped his shoulder and leaned in a little. Sage smiled, he already knew where this was going. Sage leaned in and closed the distance, giving Honey a light peck on the lips. He pulled away and watched her smile, he gave his own smile in return.

They had been dating for a few days and decided to take the relationship's intimacy to the next step. Sage was happy that Honey also wanted to take the relationship slowly. The wolf-eared boy had been shocked at the speed Mauve and Asher took their own relationship; while the two had made it work so far, Sage wanted a speed both he and Honey were comfortable with.

Pulling away from the kiss, Honey set her own controller down and scooted closer to him, laying a head on his shoulder.

"Hey…?" Sage muttered.

"What's up?" Honey replied, her green eyes turning to observe him.

"Are you comfortable with what's going to happen tonight? It'll be a big social situation…"

"Relax," she reassured. "My whole teams going to be here and I've met most of yours… except…" she turned her gaze away.

"Mauve."

"Yeah…"

"You have nothing to worry about. Mauve can be a little intimidating at times but she's actually pretty nice… has a sense of humor too."

Honey smiled, "If you say so…"

"I do," Sage joked, sticking his tongue out at her. This lousy attempt at humour elicited an eye roll from the blonde haired girl. She relaxed back into his embrace, Sage was about to suggest a rematch when she cut him off.

"You're from Mantle…"

"Uh… yeah?" Sage stuttered.

"Do you.." Honey trailed off a little. "Have any plans to go back?"

Sage considered her question, "Maybe when summer break rolls around… but I'm not looking forward to it…"

"Why?"

"I don't have anyone up there… other than my uncle… and were not super-super close or anything."

Honey gave him a curious look, "what about your parents?"

Sage took in a sharp intake of breath. He had told Rust about what his parents did to him… he could trust Honey with that information… most of it.

"I don't have a relationship with my parents…"

"No?"

"They used to beat me…"

Honey said nothing further, after a moment of shock she surged forwards and swept him up into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry…" she stuttered into his shoulder. "I shouldn't have pushed it…"

Sage wrapped his arms around her and gently patted her back in reassurance.

"It's fine… it was about time that I told you anyway."

Sage and Honey continued to hold each other tightly. Sage knew that it wasn't the full story, but there would be a time and a place for that.

In the Beacon Kitchens...

"Gah!" Asher yelled, his grey eyes widening comically. "Easy on the vanilla extract!"

Mauve yelped and tipped the small black bottle upwards, ending the stream of dark liquid. Mauve had tagged along to actually help this time instead of just watching Asher; her baking skills were still quite limited, despite his best efforts to teach her.

"Sorry!" Mauve yelped, a splash of vanilla extract jumping from the bottle and staining her white apron. Asher chuckled behind her and snaked his arms around her waist. He craned his head down and planted a kiss between her lynx ears. The tender action made contact with a sensitive spot, sending a delicious shiver down Mauve's spine.

"It's fine," Asher huffed into her ears. "You didn't add too much…. but moderation is key with this stuff… add too much vanilla and that's all you'll be tasting." He maneuvered to the side of her and grabbed a whisking spoon. Asher held the object out to her and Mauve wordlessly took it, whisking the dough until it was blended.

"Alright, now we're going to put the batter on the parchment sheets," Asher instructed. Mauve watched carefully as he used the whisking spoon to measure out a small portion of dough, flicking his wrist to fling it onto the paper.

"Looks a little small…" Mauve muttered as she observed the misshapen blobs.

"They expand when you cook," Asher explained. "Here, you lay some onto the next tray."

Mauve tried her best to measure out the dough like Asher had, the boy turning to check the heat of the ovens. Mauve encountered a problem when the dough stuck to the whisking spoon. She flicked her wrist just like Asher did, but the sticky substance wouldn't leave. Feeling frustration begin to creep up, Mauve began tapping the spoon against the parchment, which resulted in the paper lifting off the metal tray.

Asher noticed her struggle and handed a small metal tablespoon to her.

"Use this to pry off the dough," Asher explained, leaning back against a nearby counter.

Mauve tried his advice and found that the substance slumped off with little difficulty. She used the technique with the five others balls of dough. Asher swept forwards and picked up the two pans of raw cookie dough. He put them on top of the ovens and stopped to retrieve his protective mitts.

Asher gave Mauve a knowing look.

"Try not to stare…" he joked.

Bending over, Asher slid the two pans into the oven. He shut the door and stood upright again, turning around to face a blushing Mauve.

"Oh please!" Mauve scoffed. "You and I have done more than look."

Now it was Asher's turn to blush, a look that Mauve took great satisfaction in. The silver and purple haired girl turned away and limped to the counter that Asher had been leaning against a minute ago. With a grunt she lifted herself up to take a seat on the countertop.

Mauve winced when her right leg smacked against the lower cupboard, a shock of pain tracing its way up the limb. Aura did wonders when healing the body, mending a wound in a few days when it took weeks for ordinary people. While the cast had come off rather quickly, Mauve's leg was still tender and nowhere near its full strength yet.

Asher noticed her wince and stepped forwards to stand in front of her.

"Leg still bothering you?" Asher questioned. He reached his two hands forwards to grasp hers gently, running his thumbs in small circles on the tops of her hands.

"I'm fine, Asher." Mauve snapped. "I'm not looking for pity…"

"I'm not offering you pity… I'm concerned." Asher muttered in a low tone.

"I'm sorry… that came out harsher than I intended."

Asher blinked and hung his head for a moment.

"Sage was right you know… compared to us you're a glass cannon, what you pulled back on that street was reckless." Asher admitted.

"Are you saying that I can't hold my own?"

"Absolutely not, you could kick all of our asses… but we're starting on those pistols tomorrow, I'll text Ruby to see if she's free." Asher responded. "Sometimes its best to hand back from a distance… trust me."

Mauve smiled, "Alright then…"

She leaned forwards and Asher followed her lead. They shared a quick peck on the lips, but Mauve's attempts to wrap her arms around him failed when he suddenly pulled away.

"Come on!" Mauve pouted. "You can't spare a minute?"

"Just one minute can be the deciding factor between perfect cookies and burned cookies," Asher chided. He turned away from her and walked to the ovens to check the batch that was cooking; Asher turned around to shoot Mauve a grin. "Tell you what… you get those next two batches of dough ready… and maybe we can waste a few minutes."

Mauve quickly slid off the counter at his implications, wincing again when her leg took the brunt of the impact.

"I'm on it!" she huffed as she hobbled to the counter.

Asher smirked and looked away, granting Mauve the perfect opportunity to slap his rear. The surprise blow elicited a gasp and a laugh from the fair-haired boy and he turned around to face her.

"Oh…" he chuckled with a playful gleam in his dark eyes. "I think I know what I'm gonna do with those few minutes..."

Mauve shot him a grin and cocked her hip towards him, plopping another dough ball onto the parchment paper as she did.

"Oh yeah you do...

By the time they broke apart the first batch of cookies was horrendously burned.

Meanwhile in Vale…

"Gah!" Rust shrieked in surprise when he saw Vermillion.

"What!?" Vermillion exclaimed, blue eyes widening as she set down her latte.

"You have better facial hair than me!"

Vermillion gave Rust a confused look before reaching up and rubbing her upper lip. To her surprise, it was covered in cream and foam from the long sip she had just taken. The red haired girl rolled her eyes and wiped away the remnants of the beverage with her sleeve.

"Jackass," she grumbled.

Rust had been insistent on taking her for coffee, their first "real" date, even if it wasn't at a proper restaurant. Vermillion had to admit that it was a pleasant and airy little establishment, punctuated by a calm environment and the low mutter of other customers. Rust must have been a regular as their waitress, an attractive older woman with a name tag that said "Mary" had greeted Rust by name and knew his order immediately. Vermillion was pretty sure she saw Mary shoot Rust a wink at one point, probably realizing that he and Vermillion were more than just friends.

Her large boyfriend chuckled and took a sip from his own cup, the dimensions of the small glass appearing comical against his hulking frame. "I'll never understand how you drink that latte stuff," he grumbled. "Every time I've tried one they always come out super weak."

Vermillion rolled her eyes. "Spare me your coffee elitism… we both know you only drink black coffee to look tougher."

Rust's mouth hung open in mock surprise. "Baseless accusations!"

"Awh… did I hit a soft spot… want me to kiss it better?"

"Yes," Rust deadpanned, getting a flat look from Vermillion.

"Really? Over a table in the middle of a public restaurant?"

"Yes…"

"Ugh! Come here!" Vermillion grumbled as she moved her coffee cup to the side of the table. They were both tall, which made crossing the distance a relatively speedy and easy affair. Vermillion hummed when she and Rust pressed their lips together, his growing facial hair tickling her upper lip and nose. They split apart as quickly as they got together, not wanting a drawn out public display of affection and plopped back into their seats.

Vermillion gave Rust a glare when he turned his head to look in the direction of Mary, the waitress grinning and ducking her head of dirty blonde hair back into the kitchens.

"Smooth," Vermillion drawled.

"I am," Rust admitted. He reached a single darkly tanned hand across the table, grasping Vermillion's own and giving a light squeeze. "Okay… a million lien… but-"

Vermillion gave a chuckle in anticipation.

"- you will always have a blade in your dominant hand…"

"Always?"

"Always… you can't remove it by any means… it's always there…"

"What type of blade are we talking about? Is it sharp?"

"Oh hell yeah it's sharp… lets say a machete."

"Ehh… I'd do it!"

Rust blinked in surprise, "really?"

"Hell yeah!" Vermillion laughed. "Nobody would ever want to mess with me and I would never have to root around in a kitchen drawer ever again!"

"Really… that's your reasoning?"

"I'm just trying to provide a sensible and pragmatic outlook on the problem…"

Rust chuckled at her statement and downed the rest of his coffee. "For your information, I would say no… I'm already intimidating enough as it is…"

"Woah… careful with the self praise there big guy," Vermillion drawled. "You're starting to sound like a certain 'Port-ly' teacher of ours…"

"I'm not that bad!" Rust defended.

"You're getting there…" Vermillion shook her head and smiled before turning her attention to the shop window. It was a nice sunny day, Lavender and Teal had informed her they were going for a walk in one of Vale's many parks… maybe she and Rust could do that too?

The red haired girl downed the rest of her coffee and squeezed Rust's hand to get his attention. "You want to go for a walk? Drinks are done anyway…"

Rust nodded and stood up, his chair creaking and groaning as his weight lifted. He shot a goodbye wave at Mary before he and Vermillion plodded out the door and down the front steps of the establishment. Rust held out his hand and Vermillion took it, applying even pressure while they held each other. The two started walking down the street, weaving around other pedestrians and passersby.

"So…" Rust began. "Your team is still all good for tonight?"

"Should be," Vermillion answered. "I doubt anything too eventful will happen… we've all met thus far, except for your team leader."

"Mauve."

"Right… that's the one!"

"You'll be fine… Mauve can come off as abrasive but she's pretty cool."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… there was a lot of tension between us before we broke the ice with her… her partner helped prod that along."

"Asher... right? Aren't those two dating?"

Rust rolled his eyes. "Those two are crazy for each other… the relationship is still relatively recent and they're already sleeping in the same bed every night…"

Vermillion gave Rust a blank look of surprise. "Already!? That's really quick..."

"Yeah… those two seriously need to cut down on the public displays of affection… Sage and I have had to leave the room on more than one occasion to give them privacy. Speaking of Sage actually… how's Honey handling the new relationship?"

"Doesn't Sage tell you anything?"

"Nah, the guy shares sometimes, but he never gets too specific… but you've told me before that Honey isn't so tight-lipped in the dorm… gimme something!"

"Remember when Teal said she was tired of hearing Honey gush about Sage all night… before they were introduced?"

"Yeah."

"Times ten… but now Honey also just lies on her bed and stares off wistfully… it's kind of creepy."

"Sage really likes her… he's made that clear to me."

"Well, it's more than reciprocated… Honey's crazy about him."

The two came across the entrance to one of Vale's many public parks, a serene space of trees and rivers.

"I told you about Mauve and Asher," Rust began. "If you don't mind my prodding… what are Teal and Lavender like?"

"Lavender's the soft one and Teal's rough around the edges," Vermillion explained. "Despite how she acts, Teal has always been really involved in the relationship and it's pretty mutual."

"And?" Rust added with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

"Eughh… pervert!"

"Oh relax!"

Vermillion rolled her eyes. "I don't think they would appreciate it if I talked about them behind their backs."

"Chill out, I respect their privacy too… forget I mentioned it."

Vermillion relaxed into Rust's side as they continued their walk.

Later that evening…

Mauve's eyes flicked up when she heard a knock at the door. Sage and Rust, who were in the middle of preparation for the night ahead, looked up as well. With a loud clap Mauve slammed shut the book she was reading and wiggled out of Asher's grasp.

Team MARS had opted for casual clothing and had modified the room by pushing their beds together, leaving a clear circle in the middle of the room. Rust had taken the liberty of pulling out an assortment of board games and movies if the urge overtook any of them.

Sage walked briskly to the door and opened it to reveal Honey, the rest of her team standing behind her. The blonde haired girl was the only one who appeared nervous, the rest of her team seemed relaxed enough.

Team VHLT was invited in and introductions were shared, with the entire team shaking hands with and finally meeting Mauve. When everyone's names were known the eight hunters in training sat in a loose circle, with couples pairing up.

"So…" Rust began with a grin. "A million lien… but…"

The rousing chorus of groans could be heard from several blocks away.