It had been a… tumultuous few weeks, to say the least. For everyone. You, well, you knew what had happened. For others, dealing with you was a thing. Of course, Blake had been hit hard. Her team, as well. Mental strain had only been piling up since the beginning of the semester, which came to a breaking point–though all of that you had managed to miss.

Shortly after you left Blake to go join up with her team downtown, she and Weiss began butting heads. Weiss' lineage had colored her opinions of Faunus rather negatively, one thing led to another, and Blake blew up at her, accidentally revealing her nature as a Faunus. After that, she ran away, determined to fight the entirety of the White Fang and Roman Torchwick on her own.

RWY had spent the entire weekend looking for Blake while you… sat on your ass doing paperwork. As it turns out, a mix of your trash phone and Stella Rosegold's scroll transfer process meant that you had unintentionally ghosted everyone for two full days, leaving you in the dark. It wasn't until everything was over and done with that you got the out of context, "I'm leaving. I'm sorry," from Blake with no idea what happened.

You don't exactly know the full details, but apparently, Blake and Weiss made up, disrupted a White Fang meeting, and fought with Torchwick. It seemed like some sort of first season finale to a grand overarching story, but you missed all of it. Since then, Weiss had been a lot friendlier, and Blake had less of a darkness around her. Overall, things were great! Over the next few days, things started to return to normal, which brought you to now/the proof that you didn't belong in such a major battle.

"Come and get me, big boy~" Blake taunts, yelling down from a tree.

You limply swing your sword in her vague direction and start panting. As it turns out, several days of being in and out of consciousness plus a few extra days of rest had really cut your stamina. It'd been two weeks since you'd been discharged from the hospital, but now, you were finally getting back into the swing of things–even if your sword feels twice as heavy as you remember it being.

You lean against a tree and start panting. Blake, who to your knowledge had always been a fighter, has exactly infinite stamina, or at least feels like it. At least she was using it to help you get back into shape; her flirty dialog mixed with her short shorts, giving you plenty of reason to keep chasing after her in the forest. You steel your nerves, suck in air, and start running after her as she swings to another large tree further away.

Deftly swinging to a long branch, Blake yells, "Just a little further! Come on, you can do it!" She leans up against the top of the tree, casually watching you get closer.

You pull up every bit of strength you have and focus it into your Aura. As far as you've tested, you've gathered that your Semblance allows you to spread out your Aura and use it to strengthen and control nearby plant life. Feeling out the forest around you, you try sending a surge through the tree Blake was standing on; seeing as your current abilities are… lacking, you accomplish the amazing feat of… shaking Blake's branch slightly. Blake gasps, but simply holds on to the main trunk.

"Uhh… It was a valiant effort, I guess!" Blake laughs and stabs her sword into the tree, using it to slide down to the ground. With catlike grace, she lands next to you and pats you on the back. "With enough practice, you might actually be able to catch me." She manages to not sound TOO condescending, but you're really just glad Yang isn't here to capitalize on that.

"With enough practice, maybe I could actually make it through a hike…" You say, holding your now splitting side. Blake pats you again, instantly making your body feel better.

Blake gives you a quick kiss on the cheek. "In your defense, this isn't exactly a hike. And no one would blame you for lacking a little stamina, considering." She extends a hand and waits for you to grab it. "Also, if I'm being honest, if I tried, I don't even think Ruby could catch me. This is sort of my thing~"

You smile and sigh. "Now you tell me."

"The best goals are difficult but achievable. Now come on, we're right here." Blake leads you by the hand and takes you to a clearing. Removing a backpack, she empties out a blanket, unfurling it over the grass.

You sheathe your sword and join Blake on a little picnic area. Considering Blake was usually surrounded by her team, you thought it nice to separate yourselves from them and the city at large. You did so by venturing out into the forest for a training session capped off by a cute date. Feeling every muscle in your body relax, you put aside your weapon and lay back, enjoying the sun.

Blake hands you a sandwich, which you eagerly accept. She grabs her own and lays back with you. You share a moment enjoying the clouds while eating your food, free from any of the stress of people, school, and Grimm. It was a welcome moment after everything that had happened, and boy was it necessary. Coming to terms with nearly dying was difficult, but that's now just part of your life as a Huntsman; even if you became the best there was, you're certain you'd have another brush with death at least once more in your life. But for now, you had Blake.

The silence is interrupted by a bringing noise. You sit up and check your scro-

. You check your

. Stella was rather insistent that you don't conflate it with an SDC scroll for trademark reasons and such since that'd turn into free marketing or whatever. Anyway, you pick up your slate and–

"Is something wrong?" Blake asks as you jump in your seat and spend a few seconds trying to catch your slate after you dropped it, sputtering all the while.

Managing to catch your phone before it hits the ground, you confirm that, yes, Stella Rosegold did in fact just send you a picture of her standing in front of a mirror, completely naked and only covering herself using a finger and its reflection with the caption, "lookin THICC today lol" She was short, busty, had visible tan lines on her breasts and hips, and wore a strong, "IDGAF," face like she hadn't just sent a nude to a near-stranger. Suddenly feeling as red as a rose, you tear your eyes away from your phone and look at Blake. "Umm… you know that girl I told you about?"

Blake looks at your slate. "The one that gave you that?" You nod. "…yeah? What?"

You look back at your screen to see… nothing. All that was there was the chat log between you and Stella, though WITHOUT the picture of her naked in front of a mirror. Scrolling up, you find nothing that would indicate what just happened. It was all just you telling her about how the info transfer between a scroll and a slate disabled messages and how disastrous that could have been and her promising to fix that before launch. Confused, you turn to Blake and explain, "I think she just sent me a nude on accident… She deleted it, it seems."

Blake blinks. "A what!? …On accident?" She says, processing the words.

You hear another bring. Checking the new message, you read, "u didnt see that" Before you can respond, Stella sends another message. "unless u want 2 in which case my fanService acc is LilStarBuns. i post cute pics daily for subscribers ? ゚メユ"

You blink, caught more than a bit off guard with all that was happening. "And now she's selling me on her fanService…?"

"That site for sex workers? Jeez, she's forward," Blake laughs. Peeking over your shoulder, she asks, "So are you gonna join?"

"Not gonna lie, it REALLY feels like you're trying to trick me."

"I mean, go ahead if you want to. I believe in supporting sex workers, and I'm not going to pretend we Faunus don't have urges."

Still waiting for Blake to catch you thinking with your other head, you reply, "Well, A, I don't think I have the disposable income to spend on nudes, and B, I think that that would be weird considering she's technically my boss…"

"Suit yourself," Blake giggles. "You don't need to be all noble just cuz we're dating. Unless you expect me to start sending you pictures~"

"Ok, now I REALLY feel like you're trying to trick me… But last time you make that joke, you did end up showering with me at a beach, so now I'm getting confused about what you're trying to do."

Blake falls onto her back, clutching her stomach as she stifles laughter. "Look, Briar, I promise I'd be fine if you subbed to her. As for ME sending you pictures, it's a LITTLE early considering we're still on the kissing phase."

"I'm still not–"

"–But if your new friend is trying to steal you away from me, maybe we can move things along a little faster."

You stare at Blake, feeling your mind start to go blank. The thought of her sending you nudes was… oh, man, you are really starting to love the fact that you woke up in a crater that day.

Blake looks up at your spaced-out face and starts falling into laughter. "Brothers Grimm, I'm kidding! Don't freak out just yet!"

"You ARE trying to trick me!"

"Nah, I'm just starting to see why Yang has so much fun with doing stuff like this. You're so cute when you're flustered." Blake puts her hand on yours, pecks you on the cheek, and adds, "I think we're moving along fine. But next time we go out, maybe silence your phone. Wouldn't want ANOTHER girl sending you naughty pics when we're out on a date. Well, actually, you would want that I imagine, even if you want to try and play the faithful boyfriend."

"I'm telling her I'm not interested," you say, burning with embarrassment. Blake was really pushing your buttons in the cutest, most frustrating way. Turning your attention to your scroll, you type to Stella, "Sorry, but I have a girlfriend."

Within milliseconds, Stella responds, "oh thats ok i have plenty of vids with my boytoy so theres something 4 both of u. hes p cute so im sure ur gf will love him! ?¬タン

You fall silent, sigh, and show Blake Stella's response. She covers her mouth, but quickly bursts out laughing again.