Somehow I forgot this one when I was uploading my backlog. Well, here it is now. The prompt for this was "Fox, Blake and Ren have a weekly tea party where they bond over their teams' wild antics when they just want some peace and quiet. One week they have an unexpected visitor."

Blake left Team RWBY's dorm room and found that Ren was outside his own team's room, waiting for her. He greeted her with a smile and a nod, and they headed towards the second-year wing of the dorms. They made their way to the small, secluded lounge and found that Fox was already there with a pot of tea. They left the lights off. Ren was the only one affected by the darkness, and his skills made him perfectly capable of navigating it. The dark was calming, and it made it less likely for anyone to bother them.

As the three students got their tea and sat down, Blake spoke up.

"So Ren, what was that crash we heard from your room last night?"

The ninja sighed. "Every night, Pyrrha and Jaune disappear for a few hours, and when they come back Jaune is sore all over. When they got back last night, Nora decided to share her theory about what they had been doing. Pyrrha did not handle it well."

Blake and Fox stared at him for a second before bursting into laughter. Most times, laughter was the only way to handle their teams' antics. If they tried to stop every bit of craziness, they'd have gone insane by now.

Blake was about to ask for more details, when three pairs of highly acute ears picked up on the sound of running outside the lounge. Someone was in a hurry, and from the clattering sound it seemed it was someone wearing armor. The three students waited for the person to pass by, but instead he ducked into their lounge, slamming the door behind him and leaning against it.

The room was silent for a few seconds, until the sound of more footsteps passed by. When they were gone, Dove Bronzewing flicked the light switch. The Huntsman-in-training nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that the room was already occupied.

"What the-! What are you guys doing sitting here in the dark?"

"We were just having a little meeting," answered Ren. "And the dark doesn't bother us." His tone made it clear that that was all the explanation Dove was going to receive.

Dove glanced at the three of them, and then shrugged. "Is it alright if I stay here for a little while?"

Blake glared at him. Fox sneered. Even Ren's normally stoic face hardened. None of them had forgotten the way that Team CRDL had made Jaune and Velvet suffer.

"Why would we let you do that?" asked Blake harshly.

"I'm hiding from Cardin," mumbled Dove, glancing at the floor. The other three students were taken aback by that.

"Why?" asked Blake.

"He was planning some stupid prank on Scarlatina. I told him to quit it, that he was being a dumbass. He was going to get Russel and Sky to help him beat me up. It wouldn't be the first time."

Blake and Ren glanced at each other, faces full of uncertainty. Fox was still laser-focused on the newcomer.

"Sit down," ordered the blind boy, gesturing to an empty chair at the table. Dove complied, and Fox offered him a cup of tea.

"Thanks," mumbled Dove, accepting the cup. His face suggested that he didn't like tea, but he sipped it politely. No one spoke for a minute. Finally, Blake broke the silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What, about Cardin?" asked Dove, looking away from the others. "There's not much to say. You all know he's an asshole. There's nothing I can do about it."

"So you just let him do whatever he wants?" asked Fox coldly. "You just sit back and laugh when he picks on people?"

Dove stared at his tea. "I've stood up to him a few times. All I ever accomplished was getting my ass kicked."

"If you had stuck up for Velvet the first time, Coco would have done anything for you," said Fox, his voice still icy. "I don't know how much her threats would have meant, but she'd have tried to protect you. But you didn't, and she'll never let that go." Dove winced slightly. Then Fox's voice softened. "But I'm a bit more forgiving than she is."

Dove glanced up at the other three students. Their faces were open and sympathetic. It wasn't something he saw very often.

"We meet here every week," began Blake. "We talk about how difficult our teammates can be. Your stories will be a little... different, but you can join us if you want." Ren and Fox nodded in agreement.

Dove smiled. It was the most genuine smile he'd ever had since being put on Team CRDL.

"I'd like that."

I can't believe I forgot about this one, it's an idea I've had for a while. I always figured that there had to be some good in Team CRDL. To quote Guardians of the Galaxy, I don't know if I believe anyone is 100% a dick. But the series never gave any of them a particularly flattering image. So I compromised and made one of them a decent but still flawed person.

Thanks for reading.