Heh.

69.

LOL.

The howl of a distant Beowolf lingered ominously in the clear night sky, the moon casting just a pinch of light down on the five campers on the lawn. With their tents all arranged in a nice circle, everyone was ready to start with the most important part of the experience.

"Where are all the marshmallows?!"

Or maybe not.

Digging through the pile of food they had hauled outside, Jaune started tossing out empty bag after empty bag that were supposed to be filled with white, cushiony goodness. Pyrrha had to catch the empty plastic he threw behind him so it would not fall into the fire pit.

"Maybe you forgot to pack them," Blake said, a cup of tea in her hands. She was leaning her back on Sun, who was busy trying to skewer a banana onto a roasting stick. He always wanted to try a roasted one, and what better opportunity than now?

"I know I packed them!" Jaune defended himself, "I was in the kitchen with Ren and Nora while we got the food! I put them in the bag myself!"

Pyrrha instantly figured out what happened. "You didn't happen to turn your back on the food, did you?"

"Well, yeah, when I went to grab more out of the drawers. What does that have to do with it?"

"Think about it, Jaune."

"…Nora ate them, didn't she?"

"Speaking of redheads," Sun said, only for Adam to look up from his candy bar in response, "Not you."

"Does this candy bar have nuts? I'm allergic to nuts."

"I don't think you'd be breathing right now if it did, Adam."

Taurus took another bit of the chocolate. "True. But I believe some individuals have a delayed response to allergic reactions."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be biting into it anymore then," Pyrrha suggested. Adam contemplated it for a minute, but shrugged and continued eating anyways.

"As I was trying to say," Sun exasperated, finally getting back on track, "What's taking Penny so long? She should be out here by now."

Blake dunked a graham cracker into her drink; a strange mixture, but crunchy food wasn't really her thing. "Hard to tell with that one. She could have her hand stuck in a… Okay. I think that candy may have had nuts in it."

All heads turned to Adam, clutching his throat as his face turned an odd shade of purple. Pyrrha gasped immediately at the dire situation as the White Fang leader fell onto his back. "On no! He's having a reaction!"

"I got this!" Jaune jumped to action, cracking his knuckles, "I was certified in CPR when I was 13!"

Sun stood and grasped Jaune's shoulders, trying to shake sense into him. "How's CPR gonna help?! That's if he's choking, not with something like this!"

"Ah. Then I got nothing."

"We have to do something!" Pyrrha interjected, lifting Adam into her lap, "He's dying! We can't just let that happen!"

"I… Never mind," Blake almost vouched for that option, but kept quiet when she figured it was in bad taste. Yeah, she hated the guy but she still had a soul. When all seemed doomed for Adam, the four campers heard the sound of footsteps running their way from the house.

"BOSS!" the Lieutenant shrieked, skidding on his knees past the fire to Adam's side. He ripped him from Pyrrha's grip and began pounding on his chest with both hands.

"Someone has good hearing," Sun said as the big guy punched his superior even harder. After a few more blows to Taurus' chest, a huge hunk of chocolate erupted from his mouth and landed between his eyes.

Blake felt nauseous just looking at the upchucked sweets. "Oh that's just pleasant."

"Wait up," Jaune scratched his head as the Lieutenant hoisted Adam up bridal style, "So that's it? That's an allergic reaction?"

"No, silly!" the big guy laughed heartily, "He just gets carried away with eating sometimes. Shoveled the whole thing in without swallowing it down. Got all melty in his mouth and it backed up. There was a reason I said I wanted to camp with you all tonight, and this was it."

Coughing and clutching his aching ribs, Adam glared at his subordinate. "I had it under control."

"Oh no you didn't! Remember what I told you, boss: No matter what it is, always swallow. That's how I do everything."

If Blake didn't feel like throwing up before, the insinuation behind that sure as hell made her want to. Flinging the spit up chocolate into the fire, the big guy began to walk off with Adam in tow much to the latter's refusal. "What're you doing? Put me down!"

"Sorry boss, but I can't let that happen to you again. Besides, I want your help in picking out curtains for the base online. I found some frilly ones that look so S-E-X-Y!"

"We don't even have windows back home! We live in a tent!"

"And that eliminates one more variable…"

Lurking in the shadows of a tree overhead, Virulet licked his lips at the thought of what was going to occur soon. He had done some research prior to this occasion, looking what was known as slasher films up on the Internet. The glorious, bloody scenes he watched on repeat over and over made his bloodlust grow to extreme levels. Eyeing the roasting sticks, he imagined skewering more than just hot dogs on those sharp, pointy rods. Oh yes, he was going to be cooking human real soon! The most taboo of all meats to consume! He will be reviled as the most sinister being the world has ever seen!

But first, he'd have to figure out how to actually consume something.

Because, you know, currently possessing a robot girl and all.

"And let the slaughter begin! Mwah-ha-ha!"

He dropped from the tree, dropping to the ground with a thud the four campers could hear. They didn't seem to notice the maniacal grin on his face as he stalked towards them.

"Oh, there you are Penny!" Pyrrha smiled, patting the mat beside her, "Would you like to sit here?"

Yes! A perfect opportunity! Virulet grinned at the thought of being able to devour the third member of the Latent Four right now! His ultimate goal will be so much easier to-

His feet stopped dead in their tracks. Had things suddenly gotten much hotter?

No, that was impossible. He had checked the weather reports for the night. Clear black skies, perfect for butchering fleshbags. Then why…?

Virulet's head suddenly started pounding, his sensors kicking into overdrive as he realized just what was creating this sensation of… of…

Fear.

"Fire…"

"What was that, Penny?" Sun asked, puzzled by the quivering robot. Taking steps away from the campfire, Virulet had to look away from the intense heat that was affecting his wavelength. Salem hadn't warned him about the crucial fact that his composition could not tolerate extreme levels of heat! Just being this short distance from the flames sent him into haywire!

"Where are you going?" Pyrrha called out to Virulet, who was bolting to the house. He never answered her as he slammed the front door shut, heading to somewhere cold and not warm at all. "I guess Penny won't be joining us after all."

Biting into his roasted banana, Sun could barely swallow the charred fruit. Tossing his failed experiment to the side, he scooted closer to Blake. "So… This has been interesting, at least."

"You could say that," Blake said quietly, feeling Wukong's hand falling onto hers. She looked at Jaune and Pyrrha, only grasping his fingers when she was sure they weren't looking. She wasn't one for such public displays, but at least the darkness hid it slightly.

"I think the time has come," Jaune announced, swiveling around to dig into his tent. He faced everyone again with a guitar in his hands, "For a song."

"Oh no," Blake muttered.

"You can sing dude?" Sun asked, still not believing Jaune when he nodded yes.

"I'm no opera singer, but I've got a decent set of pipes on me," Arc tuned his instrument, Pyrrha watching him expectantly. What Jaune didn't realize was that he had scooted just a bit too close to the embers flickering out of the fire pit, which were landing just a bit too close to his wooden instrument.

"I like to call this first song the Camping Anthem… Welllll ~! There's a place I know that's tucked awa-a-AAHHH! FIRE! FIRE!"

"Oh dear!" Pyrrha gasped as Jaune erratically swung his flaming guitar around like a battle axe. Blake and Sun dropped to the grass as the poor noodle began running around to try and find something that would douse the flames.

"This is not okay!" Jaune shouted, dodging small bursts of fire that nearly lit up his hoodie, "Pyrrha, this is not okay! HELP ME!"

"I - I would!" Pyrrha called to her boy, "But I would much like not catching ablaze!"

"SUN! BLAKE! HELP ME!"

"Catch this!" Sun chucked a water bottle towards Jaune, only for it to bounce off his head.

"OW!"

"Well that didn't work."

Blake bonked him on the forehead with her palm. "What made you think it would?"

"I thought it might burst open or something. I even unscrewed the cap a bit!"

"Oh, don't mind me! Still holding a freakin' inferno over here!"

"The pool!" Pyrrha yelled, pointing to the back of the house, "Jump in the pool! I'll open the hatch for you!"

"Hurry! I'm sweating like sin over here!"

"We will be right back!" Pyrrha assured Sun and Blake before running after Jaune. The two Faunus watched them go through the wooden gate leading to the pool, and heard a large splash of water soon afterwards. A few moments after that one, they heard another splash.

"…Did they both jump in?"

"I dunno," Sun turned onto his back, resting the back of his head on his blanket, "Said they'll be back though. They can't be too long."

Ten minutes later:

"They're not coming back, Sun."

Yawning, Sun looked up at Blake. "Probably went inside to dry off then… Sleeping out here soaking wet wouldn't be the healthiest thing to do. Speakin' of sleep, I think I'm ready to hit the hay. You?"

Blake rubbed her arm, staring at the tent nervously. "But it's only us, now. Isn't that… you know, a little weird?"

"What's weird about it? We're no different than Jaune and Pyrrha."

"…What do you mean by that?

Oh crap. Sun wished he had an undo button right now. "Uh… You know, like what Nora says. Together-together. I think. Right?"

"I thought we said we were going to take it slow, Sun."

"Yeah, I know. But there's a difference between taking it slow and not moving at all."

Blake scoffed, folding her arms. "Fine. How fast do you want to go then?"

"I'd at least like it if you'd hold my hand without me feeling like I'm poisonous," Sun answered a bit too bluntly.

"I don't like being all lovey-dovey in front of others. I'd hold it when nobody's around."

"You lie on my lap when we watch TV though. What's the difference?"

"…There's a big difference," Blake turned her face from him to hide her blush, "Using someone as a pillow is on a different level than hand holding. Like, right below it. It's like hugging your parent."

"Uh huh. Okay. Then hug me."

"What?"

"Hug me," Sun stood up, arms wide, "Right now. People hug others aside from their parents, right? Just think of me as your dad."

"…That sounded really wrong in this context."

"Yeah, that didn't come out how I thought it would. But just hug me then. No big deal, right? Still keepin' it pretty slow, I'd say."

Standing up herself, Blake dusted her pants off before walking over and giving Wukong the briefest of hugs.

"What kind of hug was that?!"

"A parent hug. Short and to the point."

"So there's a time limit to hugs now?"

"Two seconds. Any longer leaps up a few levels."

Sun shook his head in disbelief. "You and these levels… This isn't like you, Blake. We talked that one day about this, remember? You don't have to hide anything when you're with me. I'm not Adam."

"I know that!" Blake yelled, stomping her foot, "It's just…!"

"Just what?"

"I… I don't want to run away from you."

"Run away?"

"I run away, Sun. It's what I do when I have a problem. I ran from Adam, I ran from my friends before… and if something would happen between us, it would be my fault. And I couldn't stay around you and know that I messed up things with you."

Sun reached out to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Don't say that."

"But it's true! I can't help it! It's who I am!"

"Blake…Calm down-

"I'm sorry, Sun! There's nothing I can do to promise you that I won't do that! I could never assure you that I won't be afraid and run away!"

"There's always something you can do!"

"Like what? Name it. Tell me now!"

"I-I dunno?! Maybe-

"What about a kiss?"

"…A kiss?"

"A kiss! Oh yeah, that will definitely work!" she said sarcastically, "If I kiss you, then it will definitely mean I can trust you! I'll know I have nothing to be afraid of if I kiss you!"

"Slowing down sounds like a good thing to do right about now."

"No, you wanted to go a bit faster, right? You asked for this! Do you want me to kiss you? Huh?"

"Kiss me?!"

"Yeah! Do you want me to or not?"

"Do you want to kiss me?"

"Yes!"

"Okay! Then yes, kiss me!"

"Alright! I'll kiss you!"

"Fine!"

"Okay!"

Grabbing his head in both hands like a coconut, Blake planted her lips on his, nearly clashing foreheads with him. Her eyes glared into his with a slight air of smugness, trying to tell him that a simple kiss wouldn't solve their problem.

Oh was Blake wrong.

She felt her eyelids fluttering as she felt her grip on his head loosen, her hands slowly falling to his shoulders as Sun took a step into her. He put his arm around her waist to catch her as she nearly fell backwards, barely able to stay on her own two feet as she felt herself melting away. After a few more intense moments they pulled back from each other, Blake panting heavily and pink in the face.

"Wow…" Sun grinned, unable to think of a clever quip to say, "So, what now-

"Get in the tent."

"The tent?"

"Yes. Now."

"But what about the taking it slow thing- mmph!"

The two collapsed into the tent, Blake's lips locked around Sun's as their feet scooted through the hatch. The oil lamp inside switched off minutes later just as the campfire flickered and died, leaving the pair with only themselves to keep each other warm.

"That's my girl!"

Peering from her window, Yang clapped loudly as she watched Belladonna and Sun disappear into the tent. The Lieutenant and Adam were behind her, still in the middle of looking at curtains.

"Good for her!" the big guy added before patting Taurus on the back, "Boss? You good?"

Adam sighed, closing his eyes. His last confrontation with Blake was to be his letting go of her, but now he was feeling some tugging on his emotions.

"Adam," Yang closed the window, "She's moved on completely from you now. If you still care about her in even the slightest way… You'll do nothing to stop this. You got that?"

"…I never planned on it," Adam replied quietly, running his hands through his hair, "It… It is still difficult, Xiao Long. But I am strong. I will be strong for both our sakes. Also, I have Miltia now."

"Good to hear," Yang breathed in relief, "What do you and that girl even talk about anyways?"

"She sent me an image of her breasts the other night, and I must say they were quite tasteful. Would you like to see the image?"

"…Get out of my room, Adam."