Just like ripping off a band-aid. The metaphor had little applied meaning to Penny personally. She'd never worn a band-aid, had never needed to since she did not need to worry about bleeding or infection when she got cut. She had never experienced the discomfort of the adhesive bandage pulling at body hairs as it was removed.

But the meaning behind the metaphor was clear to her. Do what must be done quickly and efficiently and you will spare yourself unnecessary pain and discomfort. And now Penny needed to apply that logic. And it seemed she needed to do this more than once it seemed.

She turned the doorknob on her father's and stepped inside where her first proverbial band-aid awaited her. Her father looked up from the screen of his terminal and smiled welcomingly at her. "Hey darling," he greeted warmly as his chair turned away from the computer so he could face her, "what brings you here today? Any trouble you need me to look at."

Penny shook her head no. All her systems were operating within parameters during her last rounds of patrols officially ending Ironwood's punishment. "No I uh… I wanted to speak to you father, I have… a question."

Pietro raised a curious eyebrow at her, "Oh? Is something on your mind darling?" He asked her, he removed his spectacles and cleaned them with a soft cloth. He always did that when they were about to have a serious conversation.

"I have a question about how I was built," said as she remained standing in front of him.

"Well I think I am the authority on that matter," he said proudly, "what has got you so shy baby girl?"

It was now or never, she couldn't lie to him, she couldn't back out of this. "I want to know… can I have a relationship? A romantic relationship? With a boy?" She let the question out and looked back up to her father.

Pietro's eyes were wide with shock and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I see… I suppose this had to come one day, I just hoped I would see it coming."

Her father took a long deep breath and released it. "I trust you're just as uncomfortable as me, if not more so. So to put it simply, yes Penny you can have a relationship, a physical romantic relationship."

Penny felt her tension release. A relationship, a physical relationship. The realm of possibilities she'd never considered seemed to open before her. She had never thought hard on such things applying to but her father's simple explanation seemed to change her whole world. She could experience things that she never thought of, a whole world of possibilities she could explore. The thought of exploring these possibilities with Jaune gave her thrills she'd never felt before.

"I'm guessing there's a boy if you're asking me about that," Pietro said, pulling Penny away from her own thoughts. "I wouldn't be a very good father if I didn't at least make sure everything is alright. You're not being pressured into anything, right darling?" He asked, giving her a concerned stare.

"No," Penny answered him, "I have not been asked or pressured into anything father." One benefit of not being able to lie without a hiccup to expose her was that everyone who knew her knew when she was being honest. Her father had no reason to doubt or question her answer. His concerned face melted away into the gentle smile she knew him for. "But… there is a boy," Penny answered him, "though he does not know I like him."

"Well he's gonna be a lucky guy," Her father said, giving her an honest and encouraging grin.

"You think so?" She asked him hopefully.

"Of course honey… I have no doubt you'd make whoever you loved happy," he said as his chair crawled closer and he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He took a breath, "I have some… detailed files about this subject I was saving for when you were ready, I should send them to you so you're prepared."

Penny nodded feeling another flood of embarrassment as he addressed the more technical details. "Father… you built me to be able to experience… physical love. Why?"

"Penny… you're my daughter," he answered her, "I wanted you to experience as much as you could when I built you, I wanted you to experience everything life has to offer, even this."

"Was it embarrassing to design and build me like this?" She asked him feeling a bit of her own embarrassment fade as he explained his reasoning to her.

"Horribly," he answered, "it wasn't an easy issue for me to approach, but I was thankfully able to be scientifically clinical and apply a healthy degree of detachment and design you with the properly functioning anatomy," he explained.

"I'm glad you did," Penny told him, she felt most of her embarrassment fade as he explained himself. "I know I cannot experience everything a human can, I know I cannot experience everything like a human, I know I cannot eat or dream or experience smells or have children as others do. But I want this, I never realized before how important this could be to me. I… I like someone, and knowing that I can experience this with them, it's wonderful."

Pietro gave her a warm smile, "that's why I did it," he told her, "embarrassing as it was." He did fix her with a serious look, "just uh… be careful darling, I know you're excited but I know what it's like to be young. Just… don't let him or anybody for that matter pressure you into something you're not ready for."

Penny averted her gaze at that. "You already said this, and I can handle myself father," she assured him, "please do not worry, he is not like that."

Her father waved his hand at her, "I'm sure he probably isn't Penny," he said comfortingly, "but a father should worry about his baby girl, especially in matters of the heart."

"I understand," Penny assured him.

"Do you mind telling me who's caught your eye?" He asked her. Penny averted her eyes from him. "You don't need to tell me anything if you don't want to," he assured her, "just know that if you ever wanna tell your old man anything I'll listen."

"It's Jaune," Penny blurted out.

"The Arc boy?" He asked, "he seems nice."

Penny nodded, "I just did not want you to worry father, and he is nice."

Pietro chucked, "I don't want you to think that I have any business telling you who you can or cannot date, but I'll admit I'll sleep a little better knowing you're not chasing some kind of bad boy."

Penny stepped forward and pulled her father into an embrace. "He is not like that, he is kind and considerate and I have come to care for him a lot. I just… I wanted to know what kind of relationship we could have."

Pietro returned the hug, "well you go get him baby girl."

Penny released him, "I hope I will father."

The many corridors of the Atlas dormitories were becoming a familiar sight to Penny. Usually she had little need to come here with her own personal room on the upper levels. But now that she had friends staying here she found herself in this particular corner of the academy more often than ever.

Tonight was movie night. And even less common she found herself moving towards the recreation halls where the students gathered for rest and recuperation. According to Jaune's texts they'd been outvoted by Ren and Nora on a movie. Tonight's movie was Seven Huntsman, a martial arts film about the titular seven huntsman defending a helpless village in feudal Minstral from an army of bandits. Apparently Ren was a fan and Nora had voted with him.

Penny didn't mind, her focus wasn't on the movie at the moment but instead the time she'd be spending with Jaune. And while a martial arts movie was not her first pick she was sure she could enjoy it. After all, reading through the Ninjas of Love series had at least endeared her to the setting of Feudal Minstral. Blake had started lending her the books after she was left waiting for the next volume in the Shattered Crown series.

She definitely was enjoying the story, lavish feudal courts, geishas, samurai, and nightingale floors. And the titular ninjas serving their feudal lords from the shadows as they navigated politics and romance alike serving just as much as matchmakers as spies and assassins as they helped their masters deliver secret love letters and arrange for secret romantic rendezvous while navigating their own love lives. She definitely saw why Blake found the series so appealing.

She opened the door to the recreation room Jaune had texted her to come too as they finished planning out the movie night. Behind the door a face turned to greet her. "Penny!" Nora greeted setting her scroll down, "glad you made it!"

Penny nodded as she looked around the otherwise empty room. "Where is everyone else?" She asked, taking a seat on the far end of the couch.

"Snack run," Nora explained, simply resting her back against the arm of the couch while her feet occupied the center cushion. "We got a pizza and everything on the way, but Jaune wanted me to be sure you weren't waiting alone."

"That is very considerate of him," Penny said looking at the blank tv screen.

Nora smiled, "well he's been looking forward to tonight, and insisted that somebody be her to greet you by six."

"He has been excited for tonight?" Penny asked her.

"Oh yeah," Nora told her, crossing her arms, "he's been wanting the four of us to hang out," she explained to her.

Penny smiled at that. She was not as well acquainted with Ren and Nora as she was with Jaune and team RWBY, but she took it as a good that Jaune had expressed a desire that she spend quality time with them. "I have been looking forward to tonight myself," Penny explained, "I grew accustomed to spending time with Jaune while we were confined to the academy, and I have had little time with him since."

Nora nodded, "you two also had that fight before your confinement ended," she observed, "it probably doesn't feel right not having hung out after that."

"You know about that?" Penny asked her surprised that anyone besides Jaune, Winter and herself knew about that.

"Jaune wasn't exactly in the best mood afterwards," Nora explained to her, "and he needed to explain why he was going out shopping in Mantle instead of on a huntsman contract or a mission."

"I am sorry," Penny told her.

Nora shrugged, "it's alright, I'm just glad you worked things out, I still owe you after all."

"For what?" Penny asked her, raising a curious eyebrow at the girl.

"For bringing Jaune back alive of course!" Nora told her. "I can't even begin to tell you how worried I was when the two of you went missing."

"It was not like that," Penny explained, "we took care of each other."

Nora shrugged, "well I'm glad he had you," she told her.

Penny nodded and turned to the door hearing the familiar voice of Jaune and Ren outside. The door opened and the two boys appeared with their arms full of snacks. From a couple two liters of soda and bags of chips with a pizza Penny winced as she observed all the unhealthy junk food. "Hey Penny!" Jaune greeted flashing her one his customary smiles that never failed to brighten her mood.

"Hey Jaune!" She greeted, "hello Ren."

The quiet boy gave her a simple nod. "Hello Penny, I am glad you will be joining us tonight."

Penny gave him a nod as she looked back to the supply of snack food they brought. "Are the three of you really going to consume all of that?" She asked.

"Nora will, trust me," Jaune answered, laying the pizza down along with a couple of paper plates. "She has quite the appetite."

Nora grinned proudly at that. "We've been running ourselves ragged making up for our fearless leader being gone," she defended, "I need to refuel."

"You have already been consuming the appropriate amount of daily calories," Ren said sitting down next to his partner.

"Well I need a little extra, and not cafeteria food," she defended, "besides Ren you know I won't lose my girlish figure." She nudged his ribs playfully with her elbow and Ren remained perfectly stoic.

Jaune opened a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips as he took a seat on a comfy chair next to the couch. "Come on guys," he said grabbing a slice of pizza and reclining on the chair, "get your food and let's start the show, Nora you can flirt with Ren later."

Nora giggled bashfully for being called out, "you got it fearless leader."

In moments the rest of them had loaded their paper plates up with pizza and chips. Penny sat closest to Jaune while Ren and Nora occupied the other two seats of the couch.

They turned on the movie and watched in relative silence. They watched together with the sounds of everyone eating and occasional moments of idle chatter and Nora occasionally flirting with Ren as Jaune had put it.

Occasional Penny stole glances at Jaune as he watched. She took some comfort in the fact that they had company. She didn't feel pressured to confess her feelings to him tonight. She felt torn between wanting to blurt everything out to him and keep it a secret. Her talk with her father hadn't been quite as difficult as she had feared but telling Jaune she had a crush on him felt like a completely different challenge.

When she wasn't watching the movie or stealing glances at a Jaune she observed Nora flirting with Ren. She offered to feed him, made flattering commentary comparing him to the stealthy ninja in the movie and remarking that Ren was far more handsome than the actor. She even leaned against the stoic Ren and rested her head upon his shoulder as they watched samurai and ninjas fight against an army of bandits and rally the villagers together.

She felt a touch of envy as she observed how easily she managed to flirt with her partner. Could she flirt with Jaune? She wasn't sure what kind of relationship the loud and boisterous Nora had with the calm and stoic Ren but he did not seem to mind the attention.

Penny observed that indeed the pizza and snack food had disappeared between the three of them before her very eyes. Nora was voracious and had eaten half the pizza slices and most of the chips herself. As they reached the halfway mark of the movie Jaune hit the pause button.

"Who wants popcorn?" He asked standing up from the comfy chair and stretching himself out.

"I do!" Nora answered, raising her hand up.

"I'll assist you," Ren said standing up as well, "I know how Nora likes it."

"Extra salt and butter!" Nora said happily, "thank you Ren."

"More snack food?" Penny asked, already surprised at the amount they had consumed in little over an hour.

Jaune shrugged, "it's a long movie, and popcorn isn't very popular," he explained.

The boys left to make their bowl of popcorn and Nora stretched out on the couch making herself comfortable as she opened her scroll up. Penny considered the flirtatious bomber for a moment and pondered the seating arrangement for the last half of the movie. Could she sit next to Jaune? Be close to him and flirt with him like Nora did? She wondered if she could tactfully convince Nora to take the comfy chair Jaune had been sitting in so he'd have to sit on the couch with her.

"Would you not feel more comfortable stretched out on the chair?" Penny asked looking at her feet just inches away. "I am certain it has a food rest for such an occasion."

"Nah I'm fine," Nora said pulling her legs back away from Penny, "I just needed a bit of a leg stretch, thanks though."

Penny frowned as she tried thinking of a different approach. Nora looked over her phone to notice the look of displeasure on her face. "Are you alright Penny?" Nora asked, slipping her phone away.

"I am fine," Penny answered only for her lie to immediately be exposed by a hiccup.

"What's wrong?" Nora pressed, clearly seeing her exposed deception. She glanced over at the empty chair she'd asked her to move to. "Do you want me to move to the chair?" She asked.

"Uh… yes," Penny answered her knowing that another lie would be futile.

Nora nodded but raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright, but do you mind telling me…" Nora trailed off and her eyes widened suddenly at Penny, "do you wanna sit next to Jaune?" She asked excitedly.

"No!" Penny lied reflexively. She was immediately betrayed by another hiccup as it exposed the truth.

"You do!" Nora exclaimed. "You like Jaune don't you?! I knew it!"

Penny could only deflate. Denying it would be pointless and silence seemed her only ally at the moment.

Nora's arm wrapped her and squeezed her tightly to her. "This is amazing!" She squeed in delight. "How long has this been going on? Does anyone else know? When are you going to tell Jaune?"

"Please keep it down!" Penny begged, pulling out of her embrace. "And what do you mean you knew it?"

Nora grinned proudly, "it's not the first time I've had to deal with someone crushing on my fearless leader," she stated.

"Please do not tell anyone," Penny begged her, "Please do not tell Jaune!"

Nora nodded, "I won't," she promised, "I'm just excited… Jaune has been needing to meet someone, someone that isn't a lonely mom, Jaune told me about what happened. That was when I first began to suspect!"

Penny felt a churning of emotions in her. She was still a little ashamed about acting out of jealousy towards those mothers, but Nora having her own distaste towards them felt somewhat justifying. "Thank you," Penny said, "I just… I will tell him how I feel, when it is right."

Nora's bright and cheerful face seemed to dim before her eyes. She reached out and placed a hand on Penny's shoulder. "Penny… I know this can be scary, but I've seen what happens when people wait to be honest with their feelings. Don't make that mistake Penny, because if it's ever too late you'll see that any time could have been the right time, and it'll feel so silly and pointless to have waited."

Nora released her and stood up from the couch to take Jaune's chair while Penny considered her words. In moments the door opened and the two boys returned with a big bowl of popcorn. "Nora!" Jaune groaned, "why'd you take my chair? I thought you were happy sitting next to Ren."

Nora sent a sly grin in Penny's direction. "I wanted to stretch out," she explained, "and this chair reclines."

Jaune sighed in acceptance and moved to the couch taking a seat directly next to Penny. If Penny had a heart beating in her chest she was sure it'd be fluttering with excitement. They gathered around the television and resumed the movie and all its martial arts glory. Occasional Penny noticed Nora giving her and Jaune expectant glances. They ate through the popcorn and Penny wondered what she should do next.

She couldn't offer to feed him her food since she had none and needed none, resting her head on his shoulder seemed too bold. She watched the movie continue on instead as she watched the band of huntsman engage in the final battle against all odds. How did Nora make flirting seem so easy? Everything that she could think of wouldn't work or felt too bold or obvious. Her mind whiled as she tried conjuring something to do, some way to project her interest to him, but none came.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt his shoulder lean against hers. She looked over to him, eyes closed as he rested peacefully. He had fallen asleep against her.

"It was a long day," Ren said, sitting to her other side. "We can finish the movie later."

"It is fine," Penny told him, "let him rest."

Ren didn't offer any argument and returned his attention to the movie. Penny watched the screen too but her focus was not on the movie, she felt Jaune's head settle on his shoulder, she felt his warmth against her synthetic skin, she listened to him breathe. Perhaps it wasn't much, but at the moment she felt like it was enough for her, until the right time came at least.

Hope you enjoyed this week's chapter. I unfortunately wasn't able to include the last part I was planning but you all will get to read what else was happening during movie night. Writing Penny having "the talk" with her father was definitely an interesting experience. As usual please review and leave your thoughts with me. And as usual thank you MidKnightMoonglow99. See you next week.