Ruby Rose sat, and looked at the… Well. It was a penis. No denying that. One of her students, Thulian Carnation to be specific, had drawn a penis on the first assignment of the year.

Props on the confidence, Thulian. Don't expect any extra credit for quality though. Or to ever live it down when I show these to the whole class.

Ruby had been teaching for over a decade at this point, doodles of all sorts were to be expected - dicks just never went out of style. For the first time however, she had an assistant and one new to teaching at that. Ruby looked over to the woman in question, wondering if she had found any surprises of her own.

Cinder Fall was clearly bothered by something in front of her. Her brow was furrowed in what could be anything from confusion as to how to read the handwriting, to disgust at what the handwriting said. Clearly unwilling to ask for help on her first real task for the semester - not counting the various lesson planning sessions and practice over the past several months.

As Cinder's shoulder slumped ever so slightly, Ruby made a decision. It was a crafty plan, one which would require perfect timing to achieve her goals. One wrong word and half the school might become overrun by a strange amalgamation of six beowolves, two chimera, a kraken, three thunderhooves, and one shark.

Ruby had yet to see concrete proof sharks weren't just well-disguised grimm. Even if they left bodies when they died.

Cinder needed help, or at least a distraction. Ruby was all too willing to give both of those. Now to hope Cinder was feeling acclimated enough to accept it.

"So, Mrs. Arc" Ruby teased, as she had since the night in the gym. Cinder looked up with a flash of what was probably annoyance, towards the nickname or Ruby herself wasn't clear. "Going purely off the information gleaned from the exercise and their weapons of choice, what are your impressions of... Our , students?"

Cinder clearly wasn't expecting a question along those lines. She seemed honestly taken aback by the inclusion the students were not Ruby's alone. The reaction wasn't lost on the silver eyed teacher, who smiled in response - her best 'yes I really said that' smile.

Recovering, the amber eyed assistant took a moment to consider the actual content of the question, before a surprising answer found it way to the world.

"Beacon has clearly kept its reputation for being a school for the best and brightest. I may not grasp the intricacies of more static weaponry, but I have seen enough questionable choices to know a good idea from a clearly bad one." Ruby could certainly understand, Cinder had known Arthur Watts - a man infamous for his frankly insane ideas for all forms of technology.

One project the authorities had recovered from his various labs was a 'living' weapon intended to eat in order to repair and evolve. Though the plans originally called for Grimm, it seemed he quickly dismissed the idea - lucky for everyone involved. Another stroke of luck came when it was discovered that exposure to air caused the entire binding structure to rapidly decompose.

Ruby had never been more interested in a military report, or more terrified.

"Take this, Kali Osha, for instance. A simple warhammer/shield duo, with three alternate shifts. Abandoning the protection of the shield, she can create a heavy waraxe. At range she can also use the hammer as some kind of small firearm; I honestly can't tell you what kind, firearms were always confusing to me. Then, given time to setup, can create an emplaced… Rather large weapon, again not my strong suit." Cinder gave a good breakdown of the weapon, regardless of the missing information.

"Then, on her sorting, she seemed to take any weapon with less than three forms total and put them all into "Boring", but seemingly re-wrote at least three weapons several times between both categories. She desires ingenuity and unique solutions, with little forethought to complications that may arise." she finished the analysis with a searching look towards Ruby.

Grinning at the well thought out and succinct answer, Ruby felt the moment deserved some mischief. "Oh man, you really went for it. I mean, I agree with you. Good job there. But I was more thinking along the lines of 'She talks too much in class' or 'If he really wants to be an artist, he should learn better anatomy '. But hey, if you want to get into the nitty-gritty, I can do that too."

A beat passed. Just when Cinder seemed close to deciding if Ruby was serious or not, a playful wink tipped the scales. Both women gave small laughs, the mood not nearly so dour and stiff.

Now for phase three of the ultimate plan:

"But actually, that was really impressive. I know we've gone over some of this stuff the last few months, but I didn't expect you to catch on to the theory that fast. No offense, I just always thought you would lean more practical." Honestly, Ruby had half expected Cinder's teaching style to involve throwing the children to the Grimm; or at least verbal abuse of some kind.

"Back to buisness: we're lucky these don't actually require a grade, there's not exactly wrong answers, just incomplete. Still, grading projects can really suck the fun out of anything. Blake used to help me out by making it a thought exercise, and my favorite one became kind of the central idea for this class. Maybe we can make this go quicker if we try one." Cinder hesitantly nodded her approval.

Oof, I barely even remember my first time grading stuff, must be rough if she's willing to put up with me this much today.

"OK. So first: pick any student's weapon, the more random the selection the better. Kind of like you did with Kali's."

"Second: Imagine you came across it in the wilderness somewhere: you don't have your normal stuff, so you've gotta use the weapon to survive."

"Third: If you can use it at all, what are the problems that come up after a fight? One day? One week? One month?"

"Fourth: Using the problems you can imagine, what can you do to prevent them in the first place?"

"And finally: What crazy thing can you do with that weapon specifically? The cooler the better, Blake used to say ''impress your date with it' cool'."

"That is possibly the most you mind exercise I have ever heard. But I suppose it's worth it not to sit here in silence the whole time." Ruby couldn't help but agree, it was very her .

That wasn't a 'no' though .

"I suppose, we could start with the next one in my pile: Polly Onyx, what's her weapon.

"twin axes with a grappling chain."

"What was the next step? I find it in the wilderness? Hmm… "

"...Okay, I'll give you that the second whip could be used like a set of reins, but no way could you manage to not kill the grimm with the active edge…"

"...This one is clearly based off yours. But they somehow made it…"

"...a bit plain, yeah. But we've both been on the receiving end of several "plain" weapons…"

"...Requires incredible levels of Dustcraft, just holding it wrong might make most Hunter's auras flare…"

"... And then she asked 'Has that poster always been there?'..."

The conversation did make the grading feel faster, but several hours still passed by. Neither woman noticed however. So caught up in dumb stories and attempts to embarrass each other. Enemies came in all flavors, after all.

As Ruby rambled on about some new doohickey she was eagerly anticipating, she noticed a shadow find its way behind Cinder's chair. Quickly catching on, she schooled her features and continued on with only a slight verbal stumble.

"I love when she talks dirty about her weapons." with an exceedingly loud yelp, Cinder shot from her seat. Ready to fight the unseen invader of her privacy, clearly she had let her guard down too quickly. Too easily fallen into the comfortable rhythm of conversation.

Blake, on the other hand, smiled far too sweetly. Then walked over to her giggling wife and shared a kiss. Short, but loving. "How's my lovely ladybug? Any students give you a hard first day?"

"Blake! What are you doing here? I thought you were gone 'till next week." Ruby practically squealed with delight as she wrapped the raven-haired faunus in a tight hug. Cinder was still standing halfway against the nearest wall. Likely still trying to breathe again.

Ruby found herself in a very similar state, though her reasons were much more positive.

"Got done early, the case practically wrapped itself in a bow after one of the detectives found a clue yesterday. I'll tell you all about it, after we pick up the rest of the Girls; I need some relaxation, and Weiss already brought the big limo to the landing pad." She was audibly purring during the embrace.

Blake then managed to unlatch herself from Ruby, before turning towards the room's other inhabitant. Scanning the desks as she went. Her face was devoid of emotion as it fell upon the woman.

"Cinder." oh no. "Thank you for helping Ruby with the assignments, normally that falls to me. And if she tries it on her own she'll be here all night." a smile flashed across her face towards the silver eyed woman in question, "If you would like, I'm sure we could convince Jaune or Emerald to come along - turn this into a bit of a party. No pressure though, I know how hard these classes can hit the teachers."

Aww. I didn't even think to invite Cinder. Not that I knew there was something to invite her to. I know your secrets Blake, you can't hide your sweet sugary side behind that black licorice facade of yours!

"C'mon, it'll be fun. Drinks are on us." Blake egged, putting on her most trustable face.

Oh. That's just evil now. Meeting the students for the first time with a hangover? Truly Mrs Belladonna, you would have served Salem well in another life. Too bad I'm a certified Salem-stopping badas-

When did we get to a club? When did we get in the limo? When did we leave the classroom? Wait, I know this club! Crap.

Ruby took stock of the situation, which had apparently left her control… Well honestly it was likely never in her control since Blake, sneaky amazing hot ninja that she was, had appeared in the classroom.

Blake was currently sharing a mischievous grin with both Yang and Mercury - I should ask them how class went . Weiss had ordered drinks for the group, and was returning from the bar. Ren was speaking with- Oh! Penny made it , nice . Emerald seemed to be getting flirted at, unsuccessfully as far as Ruby could tell. That just left-

"HEYOOO PARTY PEOPLE! We've got a special treat for you all tonight! Seeing as it is karaoke night; give it up for our first song, by random lottery sung by J Arc and C Faaaaaalllll: Autumn's End! What a tearjerker of a duet."

Guess that explains where Nora is. And isn't Autumn's End about the Fall of… Blake, you dastardly she-devil, I swear if you don't get this on video I will never scratch behind your ears again!

Ruby sat, and watched one of the cruelest, most hilarious pranks she may have ever seen unfold.

Tomorrow morning be damned, this night was going to be remembered forever, and Ruby wasn't missing a second of it.