There are certain things one should refrain from when speaking at the dinner table. Some of those things include politics, abortion, what color the toilet water was when you finished using the restroom…

I think you get the point.

Either way, bad topics like these just end all other conversations people are trying to have, due to the arguments they cause or the sheer awkwardness of it. Its bad manners, really.

However, there are certain things you can say that aren't negative and just silence everyone from the shock they bring. Someone's pregnant, you're getting married…

"I have a date."

Or what Adam Taurus just told everyone.

It felt like a dream more than anything, and a nightmare to one person in particular. It had left everyone speechless and staring at him like deer in headlights, with not a soul believing a word he said. But believe it or not, the leader of the White Fang was not lying when he stood up in his seat and announced to everyone that a female had actually, with full consent, agreed to meet him one on one, mono-e-mono...

For a date.

"You… You what?" Weiss broke the silence before anyone else could.

"A date," Adam answered, completely monotone, "I have acquired one. I felt it was something I should announce at a gathering like this. Feel happy for me now."

"Okay!" Penny cheered, saluting the Faunus, "Congratulations!"

"Don't encourage him, Penny," Blake grumbled, glaring at Adam, "The last thing he needs is someone new to mistreat."

"Yeah! That's what I'm for!" the Lieutenant stated, slamming his fists on the table, "Come on, boss! That whole thing about getting you on a dating site was a joke, that's all! Why would you need a woman when you have me?!"

"Because I cannot have sex with you, Lieutenant! Why do you think I was with Blake for so long? It surely wasn't because she had a penis!"

"ADAM!" Blake shouted viciously, "We don't talk like that at the dinner table! People are trying to eat!"

"…You don't actually have one, do you?"

"Stay out of this, Mercury!"

"Well, there goes my appetite," Sun gagged, pushing his food as far away as possible, "I'm going to go watch some TV in the other room. Or anywhere that's not right here."

"I'll join you," Blake said hastily, "I don't want to be a part of this conversation any longer."

"Are dinner conversations like this every night?" Velvet worriedly asked Roman who merely shrugged.

"Eh. We don't really have big dinners like this much. We try and save the crazy talk just for these special occasions."

"So…" Pyrrha spoke up, trying to turn the conversation on a more positive route, "What's her name?"

"Miltia. Miltia Malachite. Or was it Melanie…?"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "You don't even know her name?"

"She has a twin sister. Both their names begin with M. It's quite confusing, actually."

"What do you guys plan to do though?" Jaune asked, "Can't exactly leave the house or anything. It's against the rules."

"She said dinner would be a sufficient means of getting to know each other. She's bringing her sister in case something goes awry."

"In case?" Cinder scoffed, "Don't you mean when something bad happens?"

"I doubt anything bad can happen over dinner," Adam replied, the irony of the situation flying over his head, "I was wondering if anyone here would like to help tutor me on what I should say to her when we have conversation."

Obviously, no one was willing to volunteer for that. Not willing to take no for an answer, Adam looked to the one person he felt he could rely on in this house.

"Mercury. You consider yourself a 'Ladies' Man', correct?"

"Of course," Merc smirked, "I am a 5-Star Man, after all. A natural Golden God."

"Jesus Christ," Emerald groaned, Neo pounding her head into the table in a physical display of the former's current mood, "Not this shit again."

"I would like you to help me with this endeavor," Adam bowed his head to Black, "If you do, then I will allow you to try and woo the other Malachite sister for your own personal needs. Does that sound reasonable to you?"

That was enough incentive for Mercury. He leaned over the table to shake the Faunus' hand, anticipating the imminent conquest of an unsuspecting female. "You got yourself a deal, Taurus. I'll turn you into a certified Golden God. Not as great as me of course, but you'll get that girl in your bed for sure. I can guarantee it."

"Excellent," Adam nodded in compliance. His satisfaction was met with the Lieutenant's displeasure, the big guy throwing his arms out in frustration

"Boss! Please don't go on that date! I'm begging you! You don't need her in your life!"

It was at that moment that something in Taurus just… snapped. It was a long time in the making, but the limits to his tolerance of the big guy had finally broken. There was something he wanted to say to his subordinate, something that would surely hurt him, and there was no filter left to stop him from doing so.

"Maybe there is a person I don't need in my life… And maybe it's you."

Now that struck a blow in the big guy. "Wh…What?"

"All you've done to me since you've been here is put me in more danger than necessary! Hell, you yourself even knocked me out! The last thing I need by my side is some bumbling idiot that can't even do as much as support me with this step I'm taking! There is nothing I find redeemable in you other than the fact that you give a decent shoulder massage! I don't need you anymore!"

"But Adam-

"NO! I've had it with you! I can't stand you anymore! From this day forth, you are expelled from the White Fang! Once this competition is over, I never want to see you again!"

"Adam!" Ruby interjected, wincing at the venom in his voice, "Don't say things like that! You're his best friend!"

"Ruby's right!" Weiss stood up in the Lieutenant's defense, much to the big guy's surprise, "He's been nothing but kind to you and this is how you repay him?!"

"I don't care about how he feels. He's nothing to me anymore."

And there it was.

That one sentence, as short as it was, made everything inside the Lieutenant crumble away like sand. Years of admiration, all the hope that his leader may finally acknowledge him as something, anything other than his soldier… just died.

"…Okay," the Lieutenant lowered his head, sagging back down in his chair, "If that's the way you want it, then okay. I won't be a bother to you anymore. Just pretend I'm dead…"

"I planned on it," Adam replied, turning to leave with Mercury, "I'd like to get a head start on this tutoring, if you don't mind."

"Of course. We'll start with how to lie to their faces and not get caught…"

After the two had left, the dinner table remained hauntingly silent. Sure, there had been arguments in the house before, but none had ever gotten that intense or left deep scars in someone. Ruby went to put her hand on the Lieutenant's arm comfortingly, seeing his pain without having to see his face, but he abruptly stood up and left without a second glance back at everyone.

"…I'll hurt him," Yang seethed, tightly gripping the knife in her hand, "If Adam ever tries to speak to me, I'll make him regret it. He had no right to say that to him. Nobody deserves to be told off like that."

"Then there's only one thing for us to do!" Nora shouted excitedly, "We gotta sabotage that date! Ren, I'll need some fireworks and mouse traps!"

"That won't be necessary, actually," Ren directed his reply to everyone, "If the knowledge Mercury plans to give to Adam is what I think it is, then we won't even need to get involved with the date at all. What we need to do is bring Adam and the Lieutenant back together."

"Good luck with that," Roman leaned back in his chair, "Trying to change someone as bull-headed as Taurus is suicide."

"I'm pretty sure it was the things I said to Adam that made him give up Blake," Ruby added, "Maybe I can try again?"

"He may have took one step forward, Red, but then he went and took six backwards with this. If there's something not wrong with him, he'll find something to screw up. He's a lost cause."

"Come on guys!" An encouraging Penny suddenly hopped onto the dinner table, "Let's not act so negatively about this! We can't give up so easily on our friends!"

"When did Adam qualify as our friend?" Emerald asked, "Don't we actually have to like something about a person to call them one?"

"There are things I like about Adam! Many things!"

"Like what?"

Penny tapped her finger on her chin, trying to recollect the data stored away on what she found enjoyable about Adam. For some reason, they weren't showing up. "I can't remember right now… But I will go ask him right away!"

"Good luck with that…" Emerald muttered as the robot ran down the length of the table and sped off, wrecking everyone's plates in the process. In all the commotion, no one had noticed that another chair had been left empty, its occupant having quietly slipped out on a mission of her own…