A/N

Time for a joke!

-"What do you call a sketchy neighborhood in Italy?"

-"The Spa-ghetto!"

Get it? Spaghetti? Ghetto? Spa-ghetto?

I know, I'm an unrivaled comedic genius. Also, I have Italian heritage so I can say it... "spa-ghetto" that is...

Bet…

Vermillion watched semi-curiously as Rust dealt a new hand to the players. She was seated at one of the round tables in the Beacon libraries, surrounded by her own teammates and Team MARS.

Mauve was sitting just across from Rust; her cool amber gaze observing the cards she had been dealt. Lavender sat on Rust's left, also doing the same thing the lynx girl was doing, although her poker face was much worse.

"Okay…" Rust rolled his large shoulder as he held up his own cards. "Everyone ready?"

Lavender cleared her throat in confirmation and Mauve gave Rust a cool nod.

Vermillion's boyfriend and her teammate both groaned when Mauve slapped down a winning hand, claiming the small pool of rewards in the center of the table. In this particular case the rewards consisted of several bags of chips Rust had acquired from a vending machine.

"How do you always win?" Vermillion wondered aloud, capturing the attention of the people at the table.

Mauve gave Vermillion a quizzical look. "Meaning?"

"Exactly what I said…"

"Well," Mauve shuffled her used cards and handed them back to Rust. "It's all about bluffing and keeping a straight face."

"Really?" Vermillion chuckled, resting her head on her hand. "Show me your best…"

Mauve dropped her smile and her face hardened into a stony and neutral look, her amber eyes burned holes into Vermillion's own.

"Not bad," Vermillion clicked her tongue. "Observe…"

The red haired girl did the best possible poker face she could, mastered by her years of playing with the men in her large family. Mauve smirked and nodded in appreciation, although she said nothing.

"I feel like this could be the start of something entertaining…" Rust muttered under his breath, catching the attention of his company. "How about a one-on-one between you two?"

Lavender shrugged. "It would be interesting to see who wins…"

Vermillion nodded and tapped her palms against the table. "I'm all in… for the match, I mean."

"Sure," Mauve agreed, motioning to Rust with her hand. "Can you deal?"

Rust began to wordlessly shuffle the cards.

"Best two out of three?" Mauve questioned, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms behind her head.

"Fine by me…" Vermillion responded with a smile.

Rust dealt the hands to both girls and then leaned back in his seat to watch.

The first round was snatched by Mauve, who revealed that she was holding a Two Pair. Vermillion grumbled as she handed her cards back to Rust, discontent with her early loss to the lynx girl.

To the red haired girl's delight, she had been dealt a stronger hand for the second round, but she hid her elation. Mauve took the bait and folded, allowing Vermillion to claim victory in the second half.

One game would be the deciding factor now… and perhaps it was the confidence speaking, but Vermillion wanted something out of all this.

"How about we make this interesting?" Vermillion spoke low, grabbing the attention of Mauve.

"How so?" Mauve asked cautiously, narrowing her eyes.

"If I win the next hand…" Vermillion paused as she thought to herself. "You have to do karaoke for my team… and we get to pick the songs."

"Okay," Mauve wrinkled her nose. "What do I get if I win?"

"Up to you…"

Mauve stayed silent for a moment before answering. "Okay… but if I win, my punishment includes Rust as well…"

"What?" The large boy sputtered in confusion. "Why me?"

"Call it punishment for the awful intervention you held for me and Asher," Mauve growled. "He and I have agreed to double down on public displays of affection because of you…"

"Yeah, that really backfired," Lavender chuckled, the smaller girl patting Rust's massive bicep.

"So, do we have an agreement?" Mauve asked, turning back to Vermillion.

Vermillion shrugged and held out her hand. "I'm game…"

"Wait-" Rust began, but he was too late… as Mauve reached across the table to give Vermillion's hand a strong shake. "Damn it…"

"Deal the cards lover boy…" Vermillion smirked. Rust grumbled inaudibly and shuffled the cards before dealing the hand.

Vermillion felt the thrill almost immediately when Mauve requested a new card. Their silent battle waged on for what seemed like an eternity. The two girls locked eyes in an intense staring session, each quietly studying each other before making the final move.

"You two ready?" Rust asked, prepared to end the game.

"I'll go first," Vermillion spoke confidently. She slapped her hand onto the table, revealing it to be a straight. "I can't wait to hear you belt out an Achieve Men song…"

Mauve smirked, which made Vermillion's heart flutter in anticipation. The redhead felt her heart stop when the lynx girl laid down her cards, revealing that she had been hiding a flush.

"No…" Vermillion whispered under her breath. "How?"

"It's all about deceit…" Mauve chuckled, leaning back into her chair. The silver and purple haired girl lifted up her bare legs and rested her feet on the table, taking a moment to adjust the skirt of her Beacon uniform. "I win… now I can make you and Rust do whatever I want…"

"Which is?" Lavender pressed further, an amused gleam in her eye.

"I-" Mauve paused. "I'm not sure right now…"

Rust looked a little nervous. "No?"

"No… any ideas?"

"Don't look at me…"

"Where's Sage? He might have a good one…"

Mauve looked around for her green haired teammate but was unsuccessful in finding him. Lavender cleared her throat to get Mauve's attention and pointed with her thumb to guide Mauve in the right direction.

Honey and Sage were relaxing in the shade of a bookcase. The golden haired girl was reading a novel and Sage's head was rested in her lap. One of Honey's hands rested on the faunus boys wolf ears and was playing with them. Even from a distance Mauve could see her teammate shuddering in pleasure.

"Oh… Maybe I'll ask him late-" Mauve began, but she was cut off.

"Sorry I'm late!" Asher announced his presence, speed walking out from behind another bookcase.

"What took you so long?" Mauve questioned, rising off her chair and gesturing to the furniture.

"There are four urinals in the bathroom and two were already in use," Asher explained, taking the seat Mauve offered him. The grey eyed boy noticed the looks of confusion the girls at the table were giving him. "It's a guy thing… there's some etiquette involved that has to be followed…"

"Boys are weird," Mauve grumbled. The lynx girl approached Asher in his chair and made a big show of taking a seat in his lap; she sat sideways to the table and flung her arms around her boyfriend's neck for support. "C'mere…"

Rust narrowed his eyes as the young couple shared an obnoxiously loud kiss. One they were done they both turned to glare at their hulking teammate.

"Asher, I need your help," Mauve spoke slowly, pursing her lips and blowing on her boyfriend's ear affectionately.

"With what?" Asher questioned with a sly smile.

Mauve moved her head low and whispered into Asher's ear. Vermillion felt her stomach drop a little as a grin spread on Asher's face.

"Well," Asher chortled. "Here's what I think would be good…" The grey eyed boy used his hand to gently pull in Mauve's right lynx ear and whisper his own suggestion.

Mauve smiled so wide her teeth were bared, Asher was sporting a similar look. Vermillion actually heard Rust gulp in fear when he observed the young couple smiling in unison.

To be continued...

Catchphrases and Quotes…

"Hey Sage?"

The faunus boy in question snapped to attention, removing his arms from the crate he had been digging around in. It was his turn to organize the training night and he had been making sure his team's crate was still stocked with all the necessities.

"What's up, Rust?" Sage questioned, spinning around to lean against the crate.

"I was thinking-"

"That's new!"

"Hey!" Rust whined and planted his hands on his hips. "Not funny!"

"Sorry," Sage chuckled. "But what's up?"

Rust held up his hands to get Sage's attention. "Okay get this… catchphrases!"

Sage blinked multiple times in confusion. "And…?"

"That's it," Rust shrugged. "Catchphrases… I think we should all have one. Or a quote even… I don't know…"

"Where is this coming from?" Sage spun around and reached into the crate, pulling out a long belt of grenades for his launcher.

"Whenever you watch movies, especially action movies, the main characters always have a cool or snappy saying at the right moment!" Rust raised his arms to the sky and stretched. "I'm just saying… this team could seriously improve its cool factor if we all adopted some catch phrases. The Vytal tournament is coming up soon anyways, and you know there's going to be press conferences..."

"Okay!" Sage chuckled, spinning back around to face his friend. "Hit me with one!"

Rust blinked. "Right now?"

"Well, yeah…"

Rust reached behind himself and unslung Ruination from his back. He held the bladed head of the axe low and planted his feet. "Here comes the pain train!"

Sage said nothing, an unamused look on his face.

"Was it bad?" Rust frowned.

"Hold on," Sage grumbled. "I can still feel my spine spasming from how unbelievably awful that was…"

"Come on!" Rust whined. "It could work!"

"Not if you're saying it with a straight face…"

"So… an ironic catchphrase?"

"Bingo," Sage turned his head to look over at the entrance of the training room. He honestly wasn't sure where Mauve and Asher were, their class should have been done by now, and it didn't take that long to change.

"But what do you think?" Rust held up his arms. "I think catchphrases could be a step in the right direction!"

Sage sighed loudly. "I don-"

"Were here!" Mauve called loudly, her voice reverberating around the training room. She and Asher had entered from the door Sage was just staring at. They were ambling forwards at a slow pace, Asher had his arm thrown around Mauve's shoulders affectionately.

"I'll ask them about my idea!" Rust said excitedly.

"This is a bad idea," Sage warned. "Rust-"

"Hey you two!" Rust grinned. "Wanna hear my awesome idea!?"

Asher and Mauve shared a long look with each other.

"I'll bite," Asher frowned. "What's up?"

"One word," Rust held up a single hand. "Catchphrases and quotes…"

"That's two words, technically three," Mauve grumbled, crossing her arms with an unamused look on his face. "Also… what?"

"No, I see what he's getting at," Asher nodded thoughtfully. "Are you trying to make us cool?"

"Cooler!" Rust corrected with a giddy look on his face. "What do you guys think?"

"I guess I'll go first… and this one is mine," Asher narrowed his eyes. He removed his arm from Mauve's shoulders and held up his hands. "When life gives you lemons… squeeze them into the eyes of your enemies."

The joke elicited a loud laugh from Rust and a small chuckled from Sage; Mauve however, loudly scoffed.

"What, was that your graduation quote?" Mauve deadpanned, smiling when Asher gave her an amused look.

"Yes, actually!" Asher spoke proudly. "It took me a while to cook it up!"

"But you guys see!" Rust held up his hand and pointed to Asher. "That's a cool catchphrase right there! Asher is already ahead of the game!" The incredibly tall boy turned his warm brown gaze in the direction of his team leader. "What about you, Mauve?"

"I never wasted my time with that kind of stuff," Mauve cracked her neck and stretched her arms. "Back in Mistral there were a lot of assholes I was too busy proving wrong…"

Mauve stiffened when Rust grinned and pointed at her. "There you go! That's good!"

"Oh," Mauve blinked. "I guess that counts… even if I never realized it…"

"Hey Rust!?" Sage interjected, seeing everyone whip around to face him. "Tell them yours!"

"But you said-"

"Tell us!" Asher smiled, reaching out to rub Mauve's shoulder affectionately. "It was your idea!" Mauve nodded in support and moved her hand up to clasp Asher's.

Rust awkwardly cleared his throat and his previous stance. "Here comes… the pain train…" The last part came out as a near-whisper, Rust squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment.

The room was dead silent… Rust opened his eyes a crack to view his teammates. All three of them were standing with their backs ramrod straight, Asher's mouth was hanging agape.

"That bad?" Rust muttered.

Mauve wordlessly stepped forwards, a blazing look in her eyes. "Rust, as team leader I am hereby strip you of all rank and am booting you from the team!"

"What!" Rust squawked. "You can't do that!"

"You deserve it!" Mauve snarled, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "That was awful…"