Significant Changes: Scenes have been re-worked or moved around, but nothing completely changed.

Original chapter length: 1,773
Revisited chapter length: 4,544

"Regular dialogue" [Faunus speech only]

Chapter 29

Ruby didn't want to admit it at first, but navigating a relationship after having been strictly friends for so long was an odd thing to do. Maybe because it was the first relationship she'd ever had. Maybe it was because Blake truly meant something to her. Either way, the lines of that long and carefully cherished friendship had been steadily blurred. Along with it, so did every little detail, the daily occurrences taking on new definitions at every turn.

A date night sounded fantastic, but it was still just an outing, even if they weren't calling it that. Additionally, it was their first night away from responsibility, and Ruby was unsure what to do without the small mental hurdles to worry about.

Routine had been forgotten about entirely, in favor of more personal gratification.

Ace was being taken care of back home, and there was no one to get in the way of the two of them. For the first time in several days, they had the whole evening to themselves. They'd chosen a romantic comedy at the theater and a night out on the town, wandering around Vale in an aimless fashion. Arm in arm, they'd browsed a few shops, and passed by a street performer. At the end of the night, they took the long scenic route home, passing by the larger homes they could never hope to buy with their current income.

And, while all of that was well and good, Ruby was just as happy to go home. She slipped off her shoes, and curled up with Blake to stare mindlessly at whatever blared across the television screen.

This, Ruby concluded, was a normal thing to do. The way it would be, and the way it should be.

There was comfort in moments like this, something easy and familiar. Blake sipped hot tea, and she chose hot chocolate. When Blake had charge of the remote, the viewing took a sharp lurch towards liberal news stations, classic movie channels, and the cooking network. When Ruby had control of the remote, game show channels, prime-time sitcoms, and Grimm documentaries took center stage.

"When did I grow up into such a boring person?" Ruby wondered aloud, causing her girlfriend's ear to swivel.

It was as if she had almost missed the murmured question. "Boring?"

"Yeah, I mean, don't you think I am?" Ruby continued, the soft question carried between thoughtful whispers.

"No, I don't so." Blake said, her lips ghosting the mug in her hands. "What brought that on?" She took another sip of her tea.

"I never expected to suddenly become an extrovert or something crazy like that. I just thought I might be interested in some sense of adventure." Ruby said, setting aside her empty mug. "Instead, I'm sitting here watching this sorry excuse for a hunter as he follows a flock of griffons. No hunter in his right mind would let a whole flock get away without at least blasting a few tracking chips into the bigger ones…and even then, the only hunter I've ever seen do that to a Grimm is Oobleck. Grimm in a pack that size are no joke."

Hearing that made Blake laugh as she turned down the television. "Which is probably why you don't like adventure as much as the next person. Ruby, you've never really had the chance to settle down. Life's just one big forward leap after another to you. I'd imagine anyone would get tired with that eventually. Besides, you hit the nail on the head earlier, you're not an extrovert."

"I'm just surprised it doesn't get old fast. I guess, I just thought you'd think it was boring."

"Not very likely."

Golden eyes slid closed and Blake stretched. Her arms landing around Ruby's midriff, pulling her closer. "It's not something I like to admit, but it probably has more to do with being a Faunus than my personality." Blake said, allowing her voice to be muffled into Ruby's shoulder. "Being raise among the White Fang, stability was a tenuous thing."

Ruby hummed an acknowledgement. "Was it really that bad?"

"That's hard to say..." Blake said, trailing off. "It was bad later on, that's why I left. Before that, I'm sure. The thing is, Faunus rallies were unstable places. The older I grew, the more unstable the world around me became. I'd only just gotten a taste of what it meant to have a stable lifestyle when I went to Beacon. I didn't even know how to cope with that at first. Now that I know what it means to have some measure of safety and security, I'm just not willing to gamble all of that away."

"I wish I had a better understanding of what you went through growing up." Ruby said softly.

"No, you don't."

"Hmm? Why not? Is it because you don't think I can handle the truth?"

Blake press a kiss to the nape of Ruby's neck. "You can't see Faunus as lesser beings like the rest of the world. We're inferior, and we're taught by humans to know that. Humans and Faunus aren't the same, and mercifully, you're blind to those little things. To me especially, you just don't see what everyone else does. I never want to give you any reason to start seeing those differences .If it seems like I'm protecting you, I'm not. If anything, I suppose I'm just trying to protect myself."

"That doesn't mean I don't see them, Blake, I just choose not to let those things shape the way I look at someone." Ruby told her. "I don't think that's mercy, I just think it's the way things should be."

Blake weight the response, another kiss for good measure acting like the balm against her worries. "Honestly, Ruby, it's a slippery slope."

"Why does it have to be like that, though?"

Blake sighed. "All Faunus ask themselves; at what point do our instincts end, and our personality begin? The two are bound so tightly together, I wonder about it sometimes. Of course, Ace makes some things much more obvious than I ever would, but she's little. She has no concept of cruelty. You don't bat an eye when it comes to her, either."

"Why would I?"

"A better way to look at it is; you're a human, so why wouldn't you?"

Ruby uplifted a brow. "Because I know she's just a baby. If you're not worried about the things she does, why should I be?"

The candid response made Blake smile. "You don't have a hateful bone in your body." She said, as though that was her answer for everything. "Trust me, that's a good thing, and it doesn't need to change. You don't need to understand my past, honestly, I hope you never do. Understanding that would mean you'd have to understand why humans hate Faunus in the first place."

"If you say so." Ruby murmured, her fingers reaching up to sink into long black tresses, and further still to the base of Blake's ears. Ever so carefully Ruby began caressing the base of the one nearest her thumb. It was a passing thought. An action born of convenience, not focus, as her fingers slid lower, mapping out the small details along the nape of Blake's neck and part of her shoulder.

The cat Faunus got a lazy look in her eyes, ears drooping slightly as she melted into whatever attention Ruby deemed fit to give her, the younger woman happily curled up on Blake's lap, her own eyes closing as she listened to Blake's gentle purring.

That was exactly how Weiss found them when she crept through the door soundlessly late that evening. From the looks of things, they'd been laying that way for a while.

She disregarded it, locking the front door behind her as she made her way to her room. Yang was still awake, keeping an eye on her little sister as she stalked a tiny spider shaped Grimm that skittered up the wall in protest. "You really shouldn't let her do that." Weiss scolded, her hand landing firmly on the wall to punctuate the statement. The weight of her palm smashed the little Grimm in an instant.

"Those things are everywhere." Yang shot back offhandedly. "What do you want me to do, set the house on fire and get rid of them?"

"Grimm aren't playthings." Weis said, lifting Ace and putting her atop Yang's bed. "Not even the bugs."

"Never said they were." Yang shrugged. "I just don't think one little spider Grimm is something I need to protect Ace from. It's not like they're harmful until they get bigger anyway."

"You know the rules. No filth clogging the household, and that most certainly includes Grimm." Weiss said, smashing another one that she saw making a home in the window. "Ruby and Blake are going to have to start cleaning in here more often while we're away." Weiss replied, taking some ice dust and sprinkling it under the bed, listening to the small Grimm underneath squeal in slow painful agony as they died in mass. "My word, where did these all come from?"

"Best guess? You're looking at her…" Yang said, putting Ace back on the floor to chase another small wayward Grimm skittering about. "Grimm are attracted to negativity, and judging by the way Ace reacted when we walked through that door, she's been kind of pissy recently. Part of why all the hunters live on this side of Vale is because we can slay our own bug infestations..."

"even so, I've never seen so many clustered in one place. Harmless as they may be, there were several under my bed."

"She's probably acting like a big sad homing device."

"Speaking of foul moods, why isn't Ace asleep?" Weiss asked, bending down to look under Yang's bed. "You know she'll be crabby in the morning." She didn't see any glowing red eyes underneath, but didn't want to leave anything to chance as she sprinkled some ice dust under Yang's bed as well. The room would need a good sweeping tomorrow.

"She won't lay down with me." Yang said, leaning back on her pillow. "Nocturnal and all of that..."

Weiss didn't seem convinced. "Is that so?"

Yang just rolled her eyes, pointing to the little girl crouched behind Yang's backpack, acting like she couldn't be seen before she darted to the other side of the room to attack a wadded up paper ball. "Does she look like she's ready to fall asleep to you?"

"Yes, actually." Weiss said, turning off the light, and scooping up the young Faunus in question. "She does, and she is going to lay down."

"Oh," Yang grinned, already having failed the battle several hours before. "This outta be good."

It was a well-known fact that the household could never agree on music tastes to save their souls. While it was arguably true that Blake had the most well rounded tastes out of the four, it was anyone's guess as to what she might be in the mood for on any given day. Yang could only cringe to the sound of smooth jazz coming through the speakers in the early morning as Blake stood over the stove scrambling eggs, frying bacon, and keeping half an eye on the sliced potatoes that she had baking in the oven.

Yang didn't question it as she wordlessly made for the fridge in search of an energy drink that simply wasn't there to begin with. Grumbling curses, she made due with the nearly full liter of soda, cracking open the lid and swigging from it before carrying it to the table. Her hand come down hard on the off button to the music player, causing Blake to roll her eyes.

"I was listening to that you know." Blake said with only a minor annoyance as she looked over her shoulder.

"You were torturing me." Yang argued through a yawn. "Where's everyone else?"

"Ruby went shopping for some Grimm traps, and Weiss went next door. You were still dead to the world, and I had paperwork to sort through, so Weiss took Ace with her."

"Useless lesbians being useless, huh?" Yang chuckled, earning a curious gaze from housemate as a huge plate of breakfast was placed in front of her. "I swear, that's another situation that just needs to become a thing already…"

"I'd ask what your brain has concocted now, however, I'm also partially afraid of whatever it is you've come up." Blake said, coming to sit down at the table with her own breakfast.

Yang shrugged, looking down at her meal, her fork poking at the eggs cooked exactly as she liked them. Her chin rested in her free palm. "It's nothing really…"

"I doubt that." Blake said, crossing her arms. "What meddlesome thing have you done this time?"

"It's just, for as close as people get, you'd think they'd just come right out and say it, you know?" Yang shrugged, side-eyeing Blake with a knowing little look. "I don't get what's with all the worrying over nothing."

"Who's worrying, and are you sure it's nothing?"

"Nope, can't tell you." Yang said wagging a peace of bacon before crunching down on a bite. "It's not really my place to say. Either way, Yeah, pretty sure it's nothing. At least, nothing bad."

They ate in companionable silence after that. It wasn't that they didn't have plenty of things that could be said, and plenty more that should have been. No, it was merely that all of those conversations started with more than a few passing glances. Saying nothing at all was a shared bond between them, nonsense forgone entirely, because it simply didn't need to exist in the first place.

Instead, Yang busied herself with the thoughts still rolling around in her head. "Hey, Blake, you think Ace is happy here?"

"As opposed to where, exactly?" Blake returned.

Lilac eyes closed with a gentle sigh. "A week just seems like a lot longer after you've lived it, you know? Feels like I already missed this huge chunk of time I'm not going to get back. It's a weird thing to think about, but I keep wondering what I'm going to miss as times goes on."

Blake said nothing at first, thinking on the matter herself before she found her voice. "Quite a bit, I'd imagine…"

"Oh, that's real comforting."

"Yang…"

"Hmm?"

"This is a new situation for everyone. Ace isn't exactly unhappy, and when you think about it, that's about all we can hope for day by day." In some ways, that alone would be a luxury. "Give her time to get used to it, and while you're at it, give yourself the same. After all, it might not be perfect, but, this is the only childhood she'll ever come to know."

Yang nodded, downing the rest of her soda, and tossing the empty bottle into the recycling bin. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that."

Having to share the household was both a blessing and a curse when it came to matters of intimacy. Ruby's shyness was driving Blake crazy…though, she understand why Ruby felt that way. Any other time, those timid moments would be endearing. However, for Blake, it was also a little painful, almost as if Ruby rejected her advances, though logically she knew that wasn't the case...

In fact, all evidence pointed to the fact that Ruby was just a very private person, and, Blake knew that to be true.

Ruby ducked her head to avoid kissing in front of Yang or Weiss. Yet, she still glued herself to Blake's side, tightening her fingertips around the fabric of Blake's shirt to keep her there. Ruby still took to sitting near Blake, or on her lap, but the action was guarded and measured. She certainly didn't weave her fingers in Blake's hair, to even think about touching the two ears atop her head. Ruby was tense even just sitting there, and the implied but unspoken no kissing rule was near murder to Blake's Faunus senses.

They might have had some free time away from Ace, which they both sorely needed, but navigating the intimate side of their relationship seemed even more difficult with Yang in the house. Though the blonde promised not to tease, Blake felt the burning scrutiny in lilac eyes. The blond was being mindful of the new couple, but, she was still Ruby's older sister. As fine with all of it as she was, the urge to protect and coddle Ruby died hard…so, although Yang bit her tongue, her glare was obvious.

Sadly, there was validation in the implied threat.

Even when behind closed doors, Ruby was tense and uneasy. After several nights in a row where even making out in bed had Ruby apologizing at every turn, a change of plan was required. Thankfully, Blake had just the idea one evening when they once again had the house to themselves. She turned off faucet in the tub and sunk into the water, sighing pleasantly as it lapped at her skin.

"Are you sure about this?" Ruby asked while clinging onto her bathrobe. Naked as she was underneath, she was hesitant to part with it.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Blake asked gently, her fingertips twirling in steaming liquid. "It's nothing you haven't seen before…"

Ruby just shrugged and looked away. The bathmat had suddenly become very interesting, or at the very least, a great thing to focus on. Anything was better than her naked girlfriend, who seemed to have no qualms leaving herself on display. "But…that was back then…and this is now."

"Do you trust me?" Blake asked.

"Yes." Ruby nodded, her voice a mere whisper.

"Come here." Blake said, praying that the simple request would be enough.

After a few long moments, Ruby divested herself of the only thing hiding what little of her modesty was left, sliding into the bathtub with Blake.

The idea had come to the cat Faunus thanks to Beacon policy while being a student. If a mission lasted longer than a few hours, or took place out in the wilds, then all participating team members had to enter into a special locker room made for decontamination. Their clothes were thrown into washers and dryers. They'd have to scrub down in the showers with a special blend of lice and flea shampoo, to be sure they weren't bringing any such little critter into the student dorms.

It was Beacon protocol, and no one could avoid it.

Many students abused the privilege of the seemingly unlimited hot water in the showers, and monopolized the deep bathtubs. To say that the women on team RWBY hogged the bathing area on more than one occasion was the understatement of the century, and sometimes, they'd spend the afternoon after a long mission just soaking away aches and pains…and there was certainly no shyness to be had then, that was for sure.

Blake loved hot water, so long as it was tranquil and didn't involve a lot of splashing.

Having Ruby so close, flesh to flesh, was a vast improvement as she rubbed the washcloth over Ruby's back, smirking to herself as the woman shivered slightly. They spent a while just basking together in the solitude of their own thoughts before Ruby leaned over and kissed her. The action melted her thoughts entirely, a contented sigh slipping beyond her lips.

She couldn't hold in the purr that resulted from such affection, her sense of touch keener with the lack of clothing between them. Blake kept her eyes closed the moment she felt the pang of arousal that was so familiar, and yet so dreaded. She had been trying, painstakingly so, to coax Ruby into a sense of calm when it came to witnessing Faunus attributes. Her eyes changing to catlike slits wasn't something she could control.

It was merely an instinctive reaction, as natural to her as breathing. It was just her body adjusting its focus to become hyper aware to stimuli. Her instincts were indiscriminant, priming themselves in the presence of friend or foe…that it was a pleasant feeling didn't matter. She wanted, needed, more of those tactile sensations. Of Ruby's scent, and her voice…and Blake's body was merely granting its own desire tenfold.

She couldn't keep her eyes closed forever, and when they broke the kiss, Blake took the chance. Her eyes opened slowly, and just as she expected, she felt Ruby tense up under that feral gaze. Distinctly inhuman, and entirely catlike.

"Ruby…sweetheart, it's just me." Blake murmured carefully, mentally cursing the depth of her voice whenever she spoke through a purr…now was not the time to be sounding as her heritage demanded. "It's okay."

"Is it?" Ruby asked, as though she wasn't completely sure as she began to avert her gaze.

"No, don't turn away." Blake said as gently as her voice allowed. "Look at me, please."

Silver eyes lifted back to hers hesitantly. It was wholly unnatural to her, Blake realized.

When a human looked into the eyes of their lover, they expected a human gaze to be reciprocated back…but her eyes….her eyes would never be such a thing, because Blake would never be human. She wanted nothing more to nuzzle away that worried frown, and kiss Ruby deeply without a second thought, but she knew that would be pushing it. That Ruby didn't run away from her was probably the best she could hope for as she reminded herself yet again, that the younger woman was still so very inexperienced when it came to her own desires.

Blake's were likely a complete mystery to Ruby, and the cat Faunus needed to rectify that.

"I promise, I would never hurt you." Blake began, about to issue the very clinical explanation of what went on with her body whenever her habitual instincts took over. Just as she opened her mouth to continue, something strange happened that silenced her once more. Ruby's fingertips pressed against her lower lip, following that supple skin before cupping Blake's cheek to repeat the action with her thumb. Blake shivered involuntarily when the pad of that wayward appendage pressed onto one of her fangs as it slid on by. The motion repeated, Blake ever so carefully nipped down playfully, before releasing it and tilting her head so she could kiss the inside of Ruby's palm.

She had no idea what was so intriguing about her eye-teeth. It wasn't that they were much longer than a human's, and they were only a bit sharper. They nestled into her jaw perfectly. The distinction in length was impossible to notice, unless of course, Blake twisted her mouth into a snarl for distinctly that reason.

She was quiet as Ruby trailed that same searching caress along her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, before slowly pulling away again. Blake was about to ask what all of that was about, but as Ruby leaned in to kiss her again, and settle into the crook of Blake's neck, the Faunus decided she just didn't care. So long as Ruby was content with whatever assurance she had happened to find, she wouldn't press it.

Though, Blake conceded to the rather filthy part of her brain, keeping her hands to herself wasn't exactly easy, either.

The next day, Weiss woke early to see that Blake had already prepared breakfast.

Weiss couldn't remember her toddlerhood very well. Either way, she highly doubted her father put up with the idea of using her hands to eat at the breakfast table…or any table for that matter. She watched Ace down her oatmeal by the fist-full before her sticky fingers reached for cut up pieces of ham scattered around on a plastic plate. Attempting yet again to spear one of the little morsels onto the children's forks in hopes that Ace might use it, she was met with hostility.

[No.] Ace snarled just as soon as Weiss got close to the plastic plate. [Mine.]

Blake didn't hesitate to flick Ace on the nose for the aggressive action, causing the little girl to pout, and then to cry. Blake pointedly ignored the crying as she returned to her paper. "I keep telling you, leave her plate alone. I'm almost tempted to let her have a go at you. Maybe then you two will finally agree to disagree."

"I was only trying to help." Weiss replied with a sigh, shaking her head.

The cat Faunus folded the paper she was reading with an exasperated curse. It seemed a demonstration was in order. Taking her own fork, she speared one of the pancakes that Weiss had sitting on her plate, stealing it away entirely and cramming it into her own mouth.

"Hey, that was my breakfast!"

The older Faunus just smirked rudely through her chewing before gulping the pancake down. It was a bit dry for her taste, and she chased it down with a swig of her tea. "See, not very fond of that, now are you?"

"You are completely insufferable." Weiss huffed, going back to drinking her coffee disdainfully. "You know just as well as I do, that was not my intention."

"I know you were only trying to help, but you need to establish ownership with Ace first. For humans, possession is nine tenths of the law, but for Faunus, possession is everything. It's either yours, or not yours. So, thusly, during breakfast, your plate is your plate, her plate is hers. We don't go around touching what isn't ours. You may only want to help, but every time you touch her food, she thinks you're trying to claim it for yourself."

Weiss wasn't amused, but accepted that she was at a loss when it came to dealing with the small child. "And just when do you think she will start eating with a fork…or at the very least, a spoon?" She half considered swabbing the girl down with the wet washcloth sitting nearby, but decided against it. Ace would only get dirty again anyway. Instead, she folded her arms and leaned back into her chair, watching as Ace devoured her meal with gusto. "We will have to teach her proper table manners eventually."

Blake shrugged, honestly, she wasn't sure when they'd have that opportunity. "Give her a few more months before you start forcing that on her. As long as she's eating her own food, I'd call that a victory. Besides, does it really matter how fast she picks up table manners? It's not like we go out much, and when we do, it's normally finger food like pizza anyway…"

"Well," Weiss relented. "At least she's not wearing the bowl as a hat…"

"Oh, she still does that too, just not with her oatmeal." Blake said, mentally reminding herself that chicken noodle soup would be off the menu for a few more months until Ace stopped trying to swim in it.

"Lovely…" Weiss muttered, glaring daggers at the little girl who was completely covered in her breakfast, and the sticky syrup that came with it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something skittering up the side of the booster seat, before nestling itself into one of the knots in the little girl's hair. Several little sets of red Grimm eyes peaked out and Blake growled at the creature, plucking it from the dark tresses, and killing it.

"What was that?" Weiss asked.

"Another Grimm." Blake said, her voice concerned.

"That's it, I've had it!" Weiss said, dabbing her mouth with a napkin before slamming it down onto the table indignantly. "There are far too many Grimm in this house. I'm calling Ozpin."