Emerald hadn't been able to swipe her entire bar when they moved to Beacon, but she had at least managed to hide away a few bottles of the more choice material for a special occasion. This felt like a special occasion, or at least a dire enough one that she needed to share a drink or two with her partner. So she gathered up a bottle of some particularly strong Mistral wine, two plastic cups, and Neo, before dragging her out into the nearby hills to get some alone time. Neo was naturally suspicious, but not so much that she didn't still drink the fine liquid.

Truth be told, Emerald wasn't looking forward to doing this either. But all that stuff that went down in the forest made it clear that something was off with Neopolitan. And the only way that CPNE was going to reach optimal teamwork was if they didn't hide things from one another. But it wasn't her place to out her partner immediately, so she would have to talk through it with just Neo first.

Quietly they each sipped wine from their plastic cups, admiring the beautiful sky and the clouds floating by. Emerald knew she could only put this off so long and she sighed. "So, you actually gonna tell her or just keep burying it deep down inside? Cuz either way you gotta make a decision soon. We did okay out in the forest, but I could see that you were way too focused on one team member over the others."

Neo huffed and took a long gulp from her cup before setting it aside, signing in frustration. "What are you talking about? We did fine!"

"You were practically crying because Ciel over-worked her semblance for five seconds! You keep sneaking glances when you think no one's looking. I'm just asking you to own up to it and do something with it." They glared at one another for a while. It wasn't like this was new for them. They had fought before. But this was a new topic, that was for damn sure.

Finally Neo gave a soft sigh, her head hanging. "I mean, what am I supposed to do? You can't honestly expect me to bury it deep inside and just not think about it?"

"No, shit, of course not. But why not just talk to her about it? We already know Ciel is open to the possibility of having more than one special person in her life."

"Because that shit only works for decent, good people. The reason those other girls can do it is because they're not awful – they love one another equally and they don't worry about jealousy all the time. If I tried to do something like that, it would probably crash and burn."

Emerald sighed softly and shifted closer, pouring both of them some more wine. "Oh come on. First of all, that kinda crap doesn't have a moral center to it. I have no doubt that there are shitty people that consensually date multiple people. And even if that weren't the case, are we really still kidding ourselves? We're not bad." Em sipped slowly at her wine, staring out across the open land at the horizon. "Not sure we ever were. Desperate, maybe, and in need of shelter and all that shit. I'm not saying it didn't have moments where it was fun. But I could say the same thing about being here with all these losers."

Neo gave as dramatic a sigh as she was able and drained her own glass much more quickly. "Okay, so we're not bad. But you know what I mean. I'm-"

"I fucking swear, if you call yourself a street rat I'm gonna haul back and deck you. We're heroes and huntresses now. We fight together with them. Hell, I'd say we're friends. So what's the problem?" Emerald knew she was really starting to press her luck now, but she was getting legitimately frustrated with Neo. This was the same girl who seemed to always do everything she wanted with a cocky swagger and a cockier smile. Nobody understood her and nobody needed to. With a change of costume she could be or do anything. And now she was freaking out over some bookworm?

There was a break in the conversation as Neopolitan stewed and pouted for a moment. "It's because I'm clearly not good enough. Okay? Penny makes sense with her – robot and nerd. It also makes sense that she'd be into Weiss or Blake. But what's she gonna do with me, huh? There's nothing wrong with us fighting together because we do it well. But beyond that? It doesn't make sense..."

The wine was good, really damn good, and it broke Emerald's heart to have to ruin it. But obviously Neopolitan needed a wake-up call. She took her partner's cup from her hand and chucked it aside before crawling over and laying on top of her. Em hovered with her lips just an inch or two away, looking into her eyes almost sadly. "It's not like we make sense all time. Love, hate, any emotion... it's not always gonna make sense, it just happens. You think someone's attractive and next thing you know..." Emerald pushed in, locking lips with Neo, vaguely aware of the insanity in trying to convince her girlfriend to hook up with another woman.

They continued to kiss for a while, and Em started to get lost in it just as she was sure Neo was too. Finally the girl beneath her wriggled slightly, breaking the kiss and tugging her arms free. "What about you? This feels unfair. You should hook up with Penny or... or that Nora girl! Something..."

Emerald just shrugged and kissed her briefly again. "Not interested. I'm a one-woman kinda girl. And the one woman I care about is looking wistful and sad. So I'll do what it takes to make her happy. Whaddya say, just go and talk to her. And if it goes poorly, well, you know I'll be right here, ready to catch you." Just to make her point that she was serious, Emerald stood up and playfully kicked Neopolitan in the shoulder. "Now get to it. The more you delay the harder it gets."


It didn't really help matters any that when they returned to the room, Ciel and Penny were snuggled up together. Nor was it particularly fun having to pry Penny away and convince her to leave based on an obvious and thinly-veiled lie.

The android was definitely developing more human tendencies all the time. Because as soon as they had put some distance between themselves and the dorm, Penny stopped in place, crossing her arms and looking suspiciously at her. "It is only the two of us now, Emerald. We are a team, surely you can tell me the truth."

It wasn't as if this was a catastrophic event that they had to keep a lid on. But it still felt weird to explain this when their teammates were elsewhere. "Uh, well, Neopolitan spent that day on the town with Ciel a while back. And since then, she's been kinda..."

Penny nodded sagely, hand on her chin. "Ah. Another has fallen under the hypnotic sway of Ciel. She is truly a mystery."

Emerald opened her mouth to say something snarky before realizing that Penny kinda had a point. Even if she didn't understand, she couldn't deny the results. She had, in her brief time at Beacon, attracted the attention of at least four girls. Just because she didn't fit the archetype didn't make it any less true. "Hah, yeah, yeah she really is."

"Oh! We should go back! If they are discussing this, then we ought to be by their sides." Penny bounced ever so slightly, as she had a tendency to do when excited. "It involves us."

"Really? What if it doesn't, I dunno, go well? I'd feel awkward."

Penny shrugged, clasping her hands together in front of her. "Well... The way that I see it, if the worst were to happen, then they would both feel bad about it for different reasons. And we might as well be there since our presence cannot surely make things any worse. But if I am being honest Emerald, I do not think we need to worry. I know that Ciel can be quiet, shy. But she is also in possession of a large heart. She draws others to her, and she welcomes them all." Penny motioned for Emerald to return to the dorm room, approaching the door slowly, and casually opening it back up.

"Penny, Emerald, is that you? Um, you may as well come in here. Neo is having difficulty conversing."

With a sigh, Em made her way into the dorm and went over to where the others were sitting on the couch. She perched herself on the arm next to Neo, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. Penny trailed after her and sat down on the floor in front of Ciel, smiling patiently as ever.

"Uhh, this might be my fault... I was pushing her to have this conversation, and maybe she wasn't ready..."

Finally Neopolitan raised her hands and began nervously signing. "No, you were right. I need to just do this. I'm not exactly thrilled to complicate things here but... Well, Ciel you're awesome. You're a great leader and a shockingly kind person. Stronger than you give yourself credit for, smarter than you'd ever admit, and cute as hell." Emerald could see the smile starting to spread on her face and smirked in response. She seemed to be finding her footing again. "I know you've already got three different people vying for your attention. But if you don't mind a fourth, I'm here..."

Ciel looked shocked and her face was glowing. She looked from Penny to Emerald, grinning now. "Thank you both for your help. Um, I-I think you can head out for a while if you'd like. Perhaps we can watch a movie tonight as a team."

Emerald hopped up and hooked an arm around Penny, directing her toward the door. "You got it, Sunny. We'll give you too some, uh, space." She offered a charming wink for Neo before disappearing into the hallway, the door shutting behind them. "C'mon, Robo-Penny. I seem to recall we still have an entire checklist of human things you need to experience. I'm thinking... dancing."

"Oh! I quite enjoy dancing."

"I mean dancing in a club. It's nothing like going to a school party, trust me."


It was, Emerald reflected, strange how differently people reacted to certain situations. Neopolitan had been rendered temporarily incapable of speech by Ciel, in part because the two had a budding romance.

Emerald had absolutely no qualms about hanging out with Penny, watching as she analyzed those around her and used the data to become a better dancer, hooking in close to one another, laughing brightly. There was no confusion or misunderstanding here. She had developed a singular romantic attraction and that was enough for her. But she was more than willing to have some shameless fun with her teammate.

Even with only a short time to enjoy themselves, they had grown a bit closer and were laughing still as they made their way back across the city toward Beacon. Penny clutched her hands together behind her back and peered at Emerald with a puckish smile. "So... This is all still rather new to me. Does this mean that we are emulating our friends in RWBY more?"

Emerald just shrugged and smiled back at her. "No, not exactly. You and Ciel, you care about each other deeply. I feel the same way about my girl. But otherwise, I'm not interested in romance with a bunch of people. It's not for me. But... I dunno, I like fun. I like dancing with you. I like fighting alongside Ciel. I like looking at pretty girls. I think that's probably enough for now."

"You are... different, Emerald Sustrai. But I think perhaps that is why I am glad to have you on my team. I will doubtless have many more questions for you in the future."

Emerald chuckled and nodded in approval as they crossed out of the city and back into Beacon proper. She found herself thinking about the joke she'd made when they first moved in. Perhaps pushing their beds together wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.